President Wendy opened the meeting without a bell(!) at 6 p.m. sharp.
We found a flag and said the Pledge.
Apparently, Dan sent down a prayer that Fred read for him.
Announcements – Opportunities to volunteer!
- Ron – announced a painting party at the fence around Center Harbor Cemetery this coming Saturday.
- Fred – next phases of Page Pond Trail work – October 14 & 21. Fred sent around a sign-up sheet.
NEW MEMBER
Jim McFarlin – Fitz “Roy” Lettis was officially sworn in … finally! HOORAY and
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Happy $.
- Wendy is happy for her niece to have her second baby. Erin’s son is 13 today.
- Jim had a Sad dollar for Hart’s and Happy $ he wasn’t the one driving the car.
- Tom’s grandson graduated from Bentley, not wanting to sit behind a desk, and went into the army. Now he’s doing pushups.
- Heidi was in Nantucket last week … without rain.
- Tim and some arborists cleared branches at the NH Cemetery, and it looks great.
- Kevin is returning from AWOL because Lucy had back surgery, and he’s just now learning to run the household.
- Bob K returns because the golf league is over; now he’s going on a “bike ride” along the Schuylkill River.
Program
John Beland – retired as Gilford Fire Chief – is now with the Partnership of Public Health located in Laconia. He is the Director of Preparedness and Response for all of Belknap County. Other pillars of service are Service Link (connecting folks with Medicare services), Director of Prevention for substance abuse and suicide prevention programs, and Winnipesaukee Health Council – healthcare leaders who work with the State of NH DHHS.
The role of the Partnership is to connect community partners - healthcare, fire, police, schools, and communities to evaluate public health issues, evaluate issues, and come up with solutions. They are contracted with NH DHHS.
Last Thursday, they conducted an Emergency Preparedness Drill at Golden View – the exercise followed a guide published through FEMA called Homeland Security Emergency Exercise [HSEE]. Drills and workshops preceded the actual drill. In January, they performed a “tabletop exercise,” after which a plan was outlined and then implemented last Thursday. Objectives: testing emergency operations plan (at Golden View); establishing an incident command system; coordinating the command system with emergency responders.
The town of Meredith has just updated its Emergency Operations Plan. Their objective was to set up their emergency operations center townwide and shift those in command at the nursing home to coordinate with the Town.
The terrorism aspect was included to obtain funding from Homeland Security.
The “terrorist” at Golden View caused the evacuation of 32 residents to multiple facilities.
Receiving facilities were Belknap County, Taylor Community, and St. Francis Home. They, in turn, were charged with taking the evacuees, being part of their emergency management objective.
Emergency responders experienced a challenge since we have infrequent events of this sort (and let’s hope it stays that way). 31 agencies involved plus 150-160 “actors”- LNA’s. This also served as a “surge test” for Concord/Laconia Hospital.
Master Scenario Events List was established before the event with one person manning a
computer and amalgamating all the events occurring in real-time and immediately passing
information to all players and evaluators.
Bottom line. Evaluations are coming in. Sounds like a success.
- Risk Assessment for our area – ice and snowstorms; flooding; earthquakes; hurricanes; chemical hazards; cyber-attacks; mass shootings.
- Communication issue – “interoperability” is now established so that all agencies can communicate effectively.
No 50/50 – see Ted!
Meeting adjourned.
Addendum
This is the Saturday morning work crew at the Center Harbor Cemetary Fence Painting Project.
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