New Hanover County LEPC Minutes 11.14.2018New Hanover County LEPC Meeting
November 14, 2018
New Hanover County EOC
The following persons signed the roster indicating they were in attendance:
NAME BUSINESS NAME BUSINESS
Lisa Brown NHC Health Dept Linda Willis NCDEQ DAQ
Carol Yates Corning, Inc. Kate Murphy NHC Communications
Outreach
Teresa Smith NHC EM Mark Venters GE-Hitachi
Jodie Ruskin UNCW Thomas Johnson USCG
Mike Alexander Kinder Morgan Frank Meyer NHC Fire
Billy Howard NHRMC-EMS D. Allen Hancock NCDOT Div 3
Jeff Suggs NHC Health Robin Lorenzen NC DPS
Matt Pugliese Red Cross Steven Still NHCEM / 911
Greta Stanley Springer-Eubank Co Eric Hatcher CFPUA
Michael Thompson Red Cross Charles Debrah Praxair
Troy Paul Volunteer Marchele Evans Praxair
Steve Lambros Diamond Food Ent. Patricia Kusek NHC-BOCC
Morgan Jeffers Red Cross
Welcome and Introductions:
Teresa Smith opened the meeting at 11:00 to announce Steven Still would be giving a quick hot-wash of
Hurricane Florence, lunch first.
Membership announcements: N/A
Minutes:
Minutes of the July 2018 meeting are on the back table. Approved and seconded.
Open Forum:
From Steven Still: We are in the response phase of post-hurricane Florence. Sept 15th – rain/tornado
caused substantial electrical issue with the generator / transfer station / UPS – 911 Center put out of
commission. 911 and EOC moved to a new spot in the building that still had power. 911 was not as easy
to move. Able to rebuild 911 center in 4 hours. If this was a planned event it could have been 6 months
before operable. Brunswick County took over during the 4 hour move.
Moving forward: EOC is not operational (as of November). No phones or equipment – just alarms. For
the last three weeks the 911 servers were moved to a different location in the building, a delicate
process. A backup site was located at Federal Point Fire Department with a generator, transfer system
and UPS.
Red Cross just shut down shelters.
Some apartment complexes shut down – many condemned (business decision, not NHC
condemned) If tenants chose to leave their “help options terminated”
Hotel rooms are opening up for more contractors to come in for repairs.
Creating an “Office of Recovery” to be located at the SBDC in the NE Public Library. Beth
Shrader will be meeting with FEMA. A consultant is being brought in to help expedite – Trizer,
Troutman & Tanner.
Immediately after the storm, the EOC needed the community to keep them afloat. Industry
lines didn’t exist. While an event is happening, that is not the time to exchange business cards.
Industries called to ask the county what they could do to help.
Hazard Mitigation: Many lessons learned. We have been fairly complacent. Moderated after action
reporting.
NHC is restructuring organization chart and Emergency Operations center to embed City of Wilmington
and UNCW.
NHC EOC wants to know how better to help the community. NHC EOP is getting a complete overhaul.
During this event, there were processes enacted that had never been addressed before.
NHC has a serious need for new communications tower. We have identified interference with the South
Carolina frequency. It is stronger than ours.
VOPAC, Wilmington City Fire extinguishers from boat? Where do we have capabilities? Where do we
have short comings? Need to identify deficiencies.
Need for an Industry Contact List. Coast Guard facility numbers aren’t enough. Woul like additional
personal numbers, LEPC telephone numbers and after-hours numbers.
Need to find a generator and fuel.
NHC COAD – Volunteer’s Org – Community Org Active Disaster run by United Way – Tommy Taylor
Long Term Housing
Communications – World Kitchen - Steve – Teresa was putting contact numbers for response.
Mission Number assignment imperative. Centralized location of approved contractors coming in to help
in a disaster.
New Business: Elections
Nominations: Teresa Smith, Chairman; Eric Hatcher, Vice Chairman; Jodie Ruskin, Secretary.
Introductions:
Matt Moyes – LEPC Aiken County, SC, EH&S Safety Director, Certified Driller
Mike Thompson – American Red Cross
Greta Stanley - Springer Eubank, Fuel Supplier
Morgan Jeffers – Red Cross
Patricia Kusek – County Commissioner
Steve Lambros – Food supplier, worked with Baptist Men, World Food, Creekword Castel Street. Faith
based shelters, county shelters. Other counties serviced – Brunswick, Pender, Onslow and Columbus.
They didn’t have a generator – Corning helped with supplying a generator.
Sub-Committee Breakout Summaries:
Table-top exercise postponed. County Emergency Manager requested an extension on the grant. This
needs to be complete by March 31, 2019. We already have a scenario and a design team. Full-scale
exercise will be held at a later date.
The planning process was interrupted. We want to do this right so we are asking for an extension.
Zach Whicker and Teresa Smith submitted an amendment
LEPC Committees:
Executive Committee
Chairman- Teresa Smith
Vice-Chairman- Eric Hatcher
Secretary- Jodie Ruskin
Emergency Planning & Response Sub-Committee:
Chairman- Eric Hatcher
Members: Michael Thompson, Steve Mason, Frank Meyer, Dustin Stream, Billy Howard,
Thomas Johnson, Marchele Evans, Heather Griffin
Planning Sub Committee could help coordinate communication tree.
Public Notification – briefings, were we informed enough? How can they do better?
Text notification – check out website.
World Kitchen – phone banks – trunk lines – no one knew who placed the emergency calls.
GETZ – Area 5 meeting – gets special access to all towers.
ATT won governmental contract. 95% will be covered – next 5 years. First Net – Band 14 for
first responders.
Community Education & Public Response Sub-Committee:
Community outreach – brochures. Teresa has them to give out. She will be inviting Linda to more
event. Wants to speak to preparedness. Who we are and what we do. Public is welcome to attend.
Not just be industry partners.
Chairman- Linda Willis
Members- Teresa Smith
Next LEPC Meeting:
January 9, 2019 at 11:00 AM in the New Hanover County Emergency Operations Center.