A meeting of the Washington County Local Emergency Planning Committee held a regular meeting on Wednesday, August 2, 2000 at 0830 hours in the second floor Conference Room of the County Office Building, 33 West Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD.

Present: Co Chairs Clyde Harris and John Bentley, Members: Office Associate Verna Brown, Phil Ridenour, Robert Cumberland, William Shawley, Lt. Gary Speilman, Chief Gary Hawbaker, Cindy Kline, Lorna Christian, Marlo Barnhart, Edward Norman. State Liason Warren Campbell, Visitors: Joyce and Dave Williams.

Call To Order: The meeting was called to order by Co Chair Clyde Harris at 0830 hours. 

Status Reports:

Budget 2000 - Co Chair Harris reported that the 2000 LEPC budget was presented and approved.  The only cut was $1,000 to the Public Relations line item.  The new budget went into effect as of July 1, 2000.

Grants:
Training - Co Chair John Bentley brought to the attention of the LEPC the training weekend being planned for October 16, 17, 2000.  It is hoped that LEPC members will be a part of this training weekend.

Planning - Co Chair Clyde Harris invited the members to review the draft copy of the updated hazardous material plan. It is hoped that the plan will be completed by the end of September.  It will then be forwarded to the State for their review.  Consultants EAI have been assisting Chief Karn in the writing of this plan.  Co Chairs Bentley and Harris along with Office Associate Verna Brown and Chief Karn will review the draft update prior to formal acceptance.

PR Grant - Verna Brown reported that the grant for the four phase public relations program will expire on September 30th. A final report with reimbursement request will be forwarded to the State.

Chemical Safety Program(contest).  The Washington County Board of Education has partnership with the LEPC to do a pilot program during the upcoming school year.  The Educational Committee of the LEPC has met with Mr. Festerman initially with the goals of the program.  Mr. Festerman has approved a pilot program involving three  - 4th grade classes.  The Educational Committee has met with the teachers and gave an overview of  the goals of the committee. A twelve hour planning session has been approved by the Board of Education for the three teachers and the LEPC to finalize the curriculum.  The Educational Committee will meet on the details of the contest to be held in early March.  The Educational Committee's members are Clyde Harris, Verna Brown, Cindy Kline, William Shawley, Edward Norman, Robert Cumberland and Doug DeHaven.

State Update: Warren Campbell Liason from Maryland Emergency Management Agency reported that the hazardous material grant will continue.  A planning and training grant's increase funding for the State is $187,000.  The SERC meets tomorrow to approve the acceptance of this funding.  Letters will be sent to all jurisdictions inviting them to submit request for funding.

An additional grant of $5,000 will be made available for Cher Cap.  This money is to be used as seed money for an jurisdiction having an active LEPC to develop to the next level.

Statewide Domestic Preparedness Strategic Plan & Assessment Program - The United States Department of Justice is providing financial assistance to the State for specialized equipment to minimize the consequences of a terrorism incident involving weapons of mass destruction.  In recognition of the key role local jurisdictions play as first responders in such incidents, it is expected that local police, fire, hazardous materials and emergency medical units will receive the majority of the funds under this grant.

Receipt of funds under this program is contingent upon completion of a Statewide Assessment of risks, capabilities and needs leading to a Three year Statewide Preparedness Strategy.  In order to facilitate the process for every jurisdiction, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), as the State Administrative Agency for this grant has assembled a multi-discipline team to guide jurisdictions through the process.  The training for Washington County has been scheduled for Friday, August 18, 2000 to be held at the National Guard Armory on Roxbury Road, near Hagerstown.  This will be a four county training.  Allegheny, Frederick, Garrett and Washington Counties.  Chief Ron Karn has been designated the jurisdiction's primary contact officer.  A contact person from Fire, EMS, HazMat, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Public Health and Public Works are needed.  Anyone who may be involved in the process of assessment is encouraged to attend.

Contact people will be notified if they haven't all ready.  A Program Overview of the Program was distributed to those in attendance.

Chemical Clean Up Update - Co Chair Bentley gave an update on the clean up operations at Central Chemical as well as other areas.  He reported that he had read in the paper where a grant was given to the City of Hagerstown for a public relations committee to be set up to act as Liason between the clean up activities and the public.

Semi-Annual Meeting - The next semi annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 4, 2000 at 0830.  The host will be Ewing Oil Company.  Anyone having suggestions for a guest speaker is to let Verna Brown know.  Suggestions were given on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Cher-Cap.  Verna will meet with the representative of Ewing Oil for their suggestions and a guest list.  The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Four Points.  Written notices will be sent.

Web Page - It was pointed out by CoChair Harris that the web page is in need of updating.  It was noted that Verna Brown does not have the capability of internet at her workstation.  Roy Lescalleet has been the contact for the web page.  Verna will work with Roy to have the page updated.  Clyde Harris will look into the possibility of providing Verna's work station with the capability of the internet.

Hagerstown Police Department - Drill - Lt. Gary Speilman with the Hagerstown Police Department informed the LEPC of the upcoming drill on Saturday, August 5, 2000.  The Washington County Sheriff's Dept., in partnership with the Hagerstown Police Department have planned a hostage type situation drill at Springfield Middle School in Williamsport, MD.  The drill will be from 0900 to 1200 hours.  Fire and EMS Companies will be assisting as well as the County's Photo's Team.

It is the Hagerstown Police Department's hope that sometime next year they will be able to enter into a partnership with the LEPC to do a full scale drill involving a chemical situation to their scenario.

Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 0930 hours.

Respectfully submitted,
___________________________________
Verna M. Brown, Office Associate
Washington County EMA/LEPC

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