CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Mark Hall was officially approved as the emergency management coordinator for Clarion and Paint Townships at the January monthly meeting of Clarion Borough Council. Hall (pictured on left), who also serves as borough secretary, chief of police, and treasurer for Clarion Borough, will take on the extra responsibility to help out the two townships.
State law requires each municipality must have a Local Emergency Management Coordinator (LEMC). Once approved by the municipality, LEMCs are then appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania.
“This all transpired after the death of Charlie Dietz,” said Hall. “He had both Clarion Township and Paint Township, and after his death, they needed someone to take over.”
Council’s resolution approved sharing Hall’s services for LEMC in the three municipalities. Hall doesn’t anticipate the position taking a lot of time.
“Every community has to have one for emergencies, types of emergencies that could possibly require PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency) or FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds to reimburse towns or individuals,” said Hall, who will not receive additional compensation for the new duties.
The arrangement is not all that unusual for Clarion County. It turns out three individuals now each cover three municipalities.
Terry Beamer is LEMC for Redbank Township, Hawthorn Borough, and Porter Township.
Denny Logue, Clarion County OES Operations and Training Officer, also is LEMC for St. Petersburg Borough, Foxburg Borough, and Richland Township.
“It’s entirely up to the municipalities how they want to do it,” said Logue. “They
are required to have an LEMC for their municipality, and the training is a basic training, advanced training, and a professional certification. The training is required in a year, but that doesn’t happen sometimes just because of the classes you have to take. Part of it is NIMS, and the other part is additional training.”
(Photo: Denny Logue, Clarion County OES Operations and Training Officer, examines the OES coverage areas on a map.)
NIMS, the National Incident Management System, training program was mandated by the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. The program integrates with FEMA training offered through the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) and United States Fire Administration (USFA).
A national level of concern for adequate and consistent responses in times of emergency also surfaced after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“On a local level, I think it’s working out well,” said Logue. “I do training with the locals as far as what I do in the county. There are 24 local coordinators, and probably five or six deputies out of those right now. We have seven that have their basic certification.”
The types of emergencies a local coordinator handles are varied, according to Logue.
“They could either be your natural or manmade emergencies, which would include acts of terrorism and things like that,” said Logue. “It could actually be things like running out of water. I declared an emergency in St. Petersburg for running out of water for five days. It depends on what the council or supervisors feel that they need help on. If it is outside the realm of their equipment or things that, they can get ahold of them, and they can get ahold of the county and try to get the resources they need. They can declare an emergency or disaster at that point in time.”
Clarion County OES states the LEMC responsibility is for emergency management planning, administration, and operations for their township or borough, subject to the direction and control of the executive officer or governing body of said township or borough.
The official OES website presents the following information:
“When a disaster strikes or an emergency occurs, the LEMCs, along with their elected officials, are responsible for the public safety of their residents. By maintaining an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and knowing what resources are available, the LEMCs are able to prepare their township or borough for almost any type of incident that may occur. If the individual township or borough is overwhelmed by any disaster or emergency, and the LEMC and the local elected officials make a Disaster Declaration, then the LEMC will work hand in hand with the Clarion County Emergency Management Agency.”
Hall also was open to helping out the other municipalities, and some feel the arrangement could lead to additional cooperation.
“We can always hope it helps further cooperation between municipalities,” said Hall.
