Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07261994 - H.3 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 6 FROM:0 Community Notification Advisory Board ,'/� Contra Costa DATE: July 26, 1994 County SUBJECT: Community Warning System Project Progress Report SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Review and consider progress report from Community Notification Advisory Board regarding the Contra Costa County Community Warning System project. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None determined. BACKGROUND: The Community Notification Advisory Board is pleased to report that the design development phase of the Community Warning System Project is complete. Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. has prepared a cost estimate for a turn key project. A contract will be signed soon. The following project milestones have been met: 1. Engineering Study Completed 2. Design Review Completed 3. Funding Formula Developed 4. Community Education Master Plan Completed PROJECT MANAGEMENT CAER, an industry and agency coalition formed a non-profit corporation for the purposes of funding and implementing the project. Project Manager Kathleen Imhoff was employed by CAER on April 1. Ms. Imhoff receives direction from the Community Notification Advisory Board (CNAB) established by the Board of Supervisors in December 1993. The CNAB meets weekly to oversee and assure the project's continued development. In addition, a Management Advisory Committee comprised of county administrators and industrial representatives supports project development by assuring agreement regarding scope and operational objectives. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): of x, �,,,a— L 1laA, L'tjA e ACTION OF BOARD ON July 26 , 1994 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact Person: CC: ATTESTED July 26 , 1994 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPE ORS AND NTY ADMINISTRATOR BY , DEPUTY 2 Community Warning System Project Progress Report continued. SCOPE The Community Warning System project will provide sirens around major industrial facilities and the best proven technology available to immediately alert the public and notify them in the event of an accidental chemical release. The scope of the project goes well beyond the original request for sirens in the industrial zone. The command centers for the project will be located in five (5) of the 911 dispatch centers in our County. Each command center has the ability to unite all emergency response agencies and personnel and can activate any portion of the system individually or collectively. This means the County can use this system for any emergency. For example, if there is a child abduction, the portion of the system alerting emergency responders can be activated ensuring that all are aware of the missing child. In the event of an earthquake the system would allow County officials to broadcast Contra Costa County specific information to the residents of this County. The project scope has been endorsed by County administrators and representatives from the industrial community. BUDGET Total project costs are estimated to be $4.8 million and include the cost of project implementation estimated at $4 million (approximately $1 million for industrial facility site installations and about $3 million for county-wide notification infrastructure installations) and community education regarding shelter-in-place estimated at $600,000. PROJECT FUNDING A conscientious group of industrial leaders formed the Industrial Safety Sharing Forum. This Forum is a vehicle to facilitate a process to improve safety for industry in Contra Costa County and for the public. The objectives include: To provide a forum for discussion of preventative safety issues where these issues might otherwise not occur. To provide interaction across companies on such things as process safety best practices and incident investigation key learnings so that member companies can enhance their own safety and environmental performance. To provide a forum for communication to Contra Costa County Health Services Department and to the public the positive effects of interaction among member companies on safety and environmental issues. To provide direction and coordination among the variety of industry activities focused on health and safety which currently exist. As one of the Forum's first acts, it endorsed the Community Warning System project and sponsored its implementation. The Forum's Steering Committee has played a key role in bringing the industrial community together to share in the cost of the project and has held two industry-wide meetings to promote the project and to acquire funding participation. The Forum's work in support of the project has resulted in a List of Guiding Principles regarding the project and the establishment of an impartial committee to develop a cost sharing formula for use in allocating costs to the industrial community. The Steering Committee members are Chairman Don Manning, Vice President Refining for TOSCO Avon Refinery, Plant Manager Bob Andrews from Shell's Martinez Refinery, Plant Manager Pete Jurichko from Rhone-Poulenc's Martinez facility, Plant Manager Tom McGonigle from General Chemical's Richmond facility, Plant Manager Jack Nevin from Chevron's Richmond Chemical Company, Plant Manager Larry Reeves from Dow Chemical Company Pittsburg, and Plant Manager Evelyn Williams from Dupont Chemical Company Antioch. The Cost Sharing Committee was established with the purpose of developing an equitable and fair formula for distributing costs across Contra Costa County's industrial community. The Committee members include Floyd Johnson, City Manager from Richmond, Ritchie Kirkpatrick, Plant Manager for Rohm & Haas in Hayward, and William Walker, M.D., the County's Medical Director. This Committee met several times, once with over 70 representatives from the industrial community. The Committee has determined a process for allocating project costs among industrial facilities and has provided the results of its work to the Industrial Safety Sharing Forum's Steering Committee for endorsement. Industrial plant managers will receive information regarding the formula and specific costs attributable to their facility based on the formula early in August. 3 h EDUCATION A Master Plan for Community Education was completed by a CAER subcommittee. CAER endorsed the Master Plan and provided funding for the right to use "Wally Wise Guy" as a mascot for the County's Shelter-In-Place message. Community education about the project and how to shelter-in-place when you hear a siren will begin at the CAER booth at the County Fair August 3 through 7. Wall Wise Guy will be handing out an informational brochure describing the project and shelter-in-place as well as stickers reminding people to shelter-in-place when the sirens are sounded. A comprehensive community education program will begin in conjunction with the project contract signing. The following audiences have been identified for community education: - the general public - public and private schools and colleges - care providers - civic and service organizations - electronic and print media - commuters - boaters.