North Carolina Emergency Management Association



NORTH CAROLINA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATIONEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTESDecember 10th, 2019Members Present:President:Brent Fisher (Nash County)1st Vice-President:Mary Beth Newns (Currituck County)2nd Vice-President:Robin Caldwell (Cherokee County) Treasurer:Suzanne Hamby (Wilkes County)Past President:Karyn Yaussy (Catawba County)EBO Representative:Jen Sawyer (Carteret County)CBO Representative:Zach Shean (Harnett County)WBO Representative:Daniel Roten (Alleghany County)WBO Representative:David Breedlove (Swain County) Others Present:Gary Jones (NCEMA Executive Director)Mike Sprayberry (Director, NCEM)Steve Powers (Deputy Director, NCEM)President Brent Fisher welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.“Roll Call” was conducted by Gary Jones; and included the above listed attendees.There were no additions to the agenda for this meeting.Minutes stand approved for the November 5th, 2019 Executive Committee meeting.NC Division of Emergency Management UpdateMike Sprayberry:Information below reflects the NCEM discussion points that the “minutes taker” was able to include in the notes that were taken during the meeting; however, the data is incomplete….as the speaker moved thru the various subject matter quicker than the transcript could be transcribed.Winter storm preparation meetings have been conducted at the State Emergency Operations Center; which involved NC Department of Transportation, State Highway Patrol, Duke Energy, Emergency Management and Polk, Surry and McDowell Counties.Highway “hot spots” are identified and emergency equipment will be pre-positioned at those locations.Will Ray is now serving as the Division’s Chief of Staff; which will include supervising the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency.The Plans Office and the Homeland Security offices have split.We are currently working to identify a new Human Services Director.The position will supervise sheltering and mass feeding; and, is a big job.It will also be identifying large congregate shelter locations; and, will be looking for local emergency management “insight” on these matters.North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is to review a $4.8m grant focused on modeling, flood gauges and high hazard dams.The NCEM Division continues to focus on the upcoming Republican National Convention in Charlotte.A major emphasis is the mobile field forces for law enforcement.Also working with the NC National Guard on rapid deployment forces.Search and rescue training continues.The “Emergency Management Forums” are scheduled for next month.Seeking a lot of questions and criticisms from local emergency managers; so, everyone will walk away from the forums better educated on what The Division is doing.We are looking for additional direction from local emergency management. Looking forward to working with new NCEMA President Brent Fisher.The Recovery Section is “going great guns”……and, the Governor continues to say that the recovery effort is the “Number One Priority” for the State.NCEM Director continues to provide Governor with disaster recovery updates.Two counties (Bladen and Chowan) have been added to the federally declared Hurricane Dorian Public assistance list.This brings the total of federally declared counties to twenty-eight.Still looking for additional contributions to our “County Art Collection.”Fall Conference ReviewSuzanne Hamby:All-in-all, last month’s Fall Conference went quite well:There were 277 registered attendees.Not all bills have not yet been received; so, a financial report is not available at this time.While the facility was a small venue; it all worked well.New BusinessBrent Fisher:UNC Policy Collaboratory on Legislative Requested Flood Resilience Study:John Dorman is working with the “UNC Policy Collaboratory” on a legislatively requested Flood Resilience Study; designed to provide an implementation plan and recommendations that will result in North Carolina being more resilient to storms and flooding. Draft recommendations are desired by March 2020; with final recommendations, a plan, and a report submitted to the NCGA by December 2020. With the short timeframe of the study delivery, The Collaboratory has asked Michael Piehler and John Dorman to quickly meet with state agencies and stakeholders to review and receive input on the possible areas of interest/scope of the study (by the end of December). John Dorman has communicated to The Collaboratory leadership that a discussion with NCEMA is “a must” for the survey to succeed; since EM Directors/Coordinators have been intimately involved with all of the past storms/flooding; and they understand what would/could help communities be resilient to the impact of storms. John/Michael would like to meet with NCEMA representatives to discuss the current areas of focus/scope and receive feedback/input concerning any other items that need to be added. With the holiday season fast approaching; suggested meeting dates include December 16th or 20th, 2019.After some discussion; it was decided to contact John Dorman and request a meeting extension into the January 2020 time period.Replacement of NCEMA State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) Representative:In accordance with NCEMA Bylaws……the Executive Committee shall provide a nominee to the Governor for appointment to the SERC; and the nominee should be prepared to serve a minimum of two, two-year terms of active membership status.Currently the following members have expressed their interest in serving as the Association’s SERC representative:Karyn Yaussy – Catawba CountyDon Campbell – Guilford CountyJim Groves – Durham CountyScot Brooks – Moore CountyEvan Grady – Randolph CountyA request was made seeking any other individuals interested in serving as an Association SERC representative.None were identified.The Executive Committee members will participate in a “Survey Monkey” vote to determine the nominee.The Association will work with Will Ray (NCEM Plans Chief) to develop the recommendation letter that will send the name of the selected nominee to the Governor.Discussion on Washington, DC Trip:Mary Beth Newns provided a review of a discussion she recently had with Drew Pearson (Chairman of NCEMA Legislative Committee) concerning these legislative visits:While everyone seems to feel that the past Washington, DC trips were beneficial; there was a concern that most Washington, DC office visits involve speaking with aides rather than the elected representative.In addition; some have voiced a concern over the costs associated with past trips to Washington, DC; and, have wondered if the money could have been better spent working with our representatives in the North Carolina General Assembly.At the fall conference, several people mentioned the need of focusing legislative outreach efforts on our state legislature. One approach discussed could involve alternating between visiting DC one year and the next year visiting with the Raleigh representatives.Another possibility would be to engage with our federal elected officials by visiting with them when they are at home in their district and building a relationship with the elected officials’ staff at their local offices. Brent also discussed conducting some sort of a “NCEMA Legislative Day” program like what the Fire Service conducts each year; as they meet with their NC Legislators.Development of a NCEMA Activity Chart:As Executive Committee members, committee chairs and committee members change; is there a need for a chart or timeline of important dates to keep us on track? While activities that center around our conferences (those that involve the Site, Program, Awards and Nominating Committees) may be somewhat easy to anticipate and plan for; other suspense dates can be easily overlooked……to include:When to start planning the Washington, DC trip.When to identify potential/“new” “lifetime members.” When to replace specific “at-large” Executive Committee members; once their three one-year terms are about to expire. When to plan for replacing Association SERC representative.When to conduct a performance review for the Executive Director.Would we want to develop something to ensure important dates were captured and are being followed……and to show the dependency relationships between activities and current schedule status and who has responsibility?In addition; this information could also be placed on the Association’s website.“Open” Committee “Liaison” Positions for Executive Committee Members:While many of the Association’s committees currently have an Executive Committee “liaison” assigned to them; recent turnover within the membership of the Executive Committee has resulted in some committees to no longer have an assigned “liaison.”Karyn Yaussy was asked if there was any requirement for the “liaison” assigned to the Constitution and By-Laws Committee to be the current NCEMA president?Karyn indicated that was not the case.Based upon a consideration of the current Executive Committee members already assigned “liaison” duties, those Executive Committee members without assigned “liaison” duties (but, currently serving as members of a committee) and those Executive Committee members without any link to a committee needing an assigned “liaison”……a finalized “Liaison Assignment List” will be published in advance of the January 2020 Executive Committee meeting.Establishing a “NCEMA Legislative Day” with NC Legislators:There was an open discussion on the topic of establishing a “NCEMA Legislative Day” in place of (or in conjunction to) the Association’s annual Washington, DC trips.The Fire Service has a Legislative Day where the fire service meets with NC Legislators; and, discusses position papers with the representatives.Are we missing an opportunity to do something like this?It was mentioned that “lots of people were interested in this”…….and, that generally everyone felt this would be a “good idea.”The Executive Committee will work with Drew Pearson (and the Legislative Committee) to establish a NC Legislative Day.NCEMA Outreach Program/Initiative:Local emergency management programs across the state vary considerably; based upon the availability of funding and the assigned responsibilities of the local emergency managers. Some local offices are one-person departments; while other local agencies have several individuals on their staff. Is there a need to develop some sort of a capability within the Association to research available grant opportunities; in order to provide a limited number of outreach materials to those local agencies that need them?This could include working with NCEM public information staff; to further develop the materials.The Executive Committee will look further into developing a capability of researching grant opportunities; and, using any identified funding towards acquiring materials to supplement local agency “outreach” programs.Old BusinessAd Hoc Committee Report (Karyn Yaussy):If everyone is “on-board” with the Ad Hoc Committee’s recommendations that focused on the comments received during the recent membership and voting survey; then the recommendations need to be forwarded to the By-Laws Committee for their action.The By-Laws Committee will then develop the Ad Hoc Committee’s proposal into a formal recommendation; and, forward that recommendation to the Executive Committee.If the Executive Committee approves the recommendation; it will be provided to the Association’s general membership for their consideration in advance of the 2020 Spring Conference……when a vote will be taken on the recommended by-laws’ changes.Executive Director CommentsActivity Update (Gary Jones):In addition to my “normal” daily activities; during the past month I also:I took action to update documents, the website and other reference materials; as the result of the installation of our new Association officers.I did post award information to the website as well; and, included much of this information in the last newsletter too.I attended several Association committee meetings during the Fall Conference; including the Training Committee, the Legislative Committee and the Program Committee meetings.I provided the award winners and those receiving their certifications with copies of their presentation photos.I also attended a “Senior Officials Workshop for All-Hazards Preparedness” class in Greenville, NC.During this next month, I do plan to:Post the past conference’s photos and PowerPoint slides to the Association’s website.Last week, I did receive a computer disk from Michelle Tuck that contained the PowerPoint slides……and I just want to say that we certainly do appreciate The Division’s help with this; and everything else they did for the Association in conjunction with the past Fall Conference.This next month, I will also focus on the four strategic plan objectives that remain “open.”I also want to move forward with researching the listing of the Association’s past presidents, the past Association award winners and additional past “President’s Award” winners. In addition; I will assist Stacie Miles (Onslow County) and Myron Waddell (Surry County) as they move forward with collecting more information on the “namesakes” of our Association awards.Stacie and Myron volunteered to lead the charge on this project.I will be attending a “NCEM CMIST Advisory Committee Meeting” this Thursday.Finally; I will be out-of-state next Tuesday thru Thursday attending a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery……Follow-Up Comments: Association Award Information (Brent Fisher):As more and more young people become involved with our emergency management community; many of these individuals are not familiar with the background/history of the individuals for whom the Association’s awards are named.As a result of recent discussions with Jordan Rink (Awards Committee chairman); we will investigate the possibility of:Presenting “on-screen” the name/biography of the “namesake” of each award as the award is being presented.Provide this information as a document to each award recipient.Scheduling of the Next Executive Committee MeetingThe next Executive Committee meeting will occur at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday January 14th, 2020; as a conference call.The December 2019 Executive Committee meeting adjourned at 9:52 a.m. ................
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