American Public Works Association
2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 700, Kansas City, MO 64108-2625
Phone (816) 472-6100  Fax (816) 472-1610
Web www.apwa.net  E-mail apwa@apwa.net
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
CONFERENCE CALL MEETING SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, May 7, 2008
Participants:
Teresa Scott
David Himes
Brian Usher
Larry Zensinger
Curt Edwards
Chris Walsh
Diane Linderman, APWA Board
Mike Geisel, Ed. Comm. Liaison
Staff:
Teresa Hon
Jim Fahey
Ashley Scherzer
1. Teresa Scott called the meeting order and asked if there were changes to the
agenda. There were none.
2. Participants approved the April 9, 2008, meeting summary.
3. Legislative Update – Jim Fahey reported that the recent Policy Forum Meeting
went very well. There were 33 participants and 70 meetings took place on the
hill. Teresa Scott was one of the participants and felt the event was well
organized, positive and productive.
The Government Affairs Committee meeting was in conjunction with the Policy
Forum Meeting. They received a report from the Chapter Advocacy Task Force.
The report will be forwarded to the APWA Board of Directors and if accepted,
action items will be identified.
The GAC reviewed the Emergency Management Committee’s proposed
position statement on statewide mutual aid agreements. It was suggested that a
sentence be added to the second paragraph under purpose which reads “Public
Works is a recognized first responder.” The committee was fine with the addition
but wanted to include a definition of first responder. Staff will update, distribute to
the committee and check with the GAC members (via email) prior to sending to
the board for approval.
Jim mentioned that Senator Landrieu is proposing an overhaul of the Stafford
Act. Larry Zensinger commented on a range of issues and will send a report to
Jim Fahey and the committee.
4. Education report – Education Committee member Mike Geisel and APWA staff
member Ashley Scherzer reported that the Climate Change Symposium
handouts were now available on the APWA web site. The first public fleet
workshop to be held in Canada starts today, with 39 registrants plus five walkEmergency Management Committee Conference Call Meeting Summary – page 1
ins. Development of the masters degree program continues. The final
recommended list of Click, Listen and Learn and sustainability series topics will
be distributed to Technical Committees in the coming weeks. Upcoming CLL
topics include Delta Force Readiness! Developing Tomorrow’s Elite Corps of
Public Works Leaders on May 15 and Green Buildings – LEED the Way on May
29.
5. At-Large Director Report – Diane Linderman reported that the APWA Board
meeting will take place the second weekend in June. The Finance Committee
met in Kansas City and while the association remains financially sound,
adjustments have been made to reflect the potential effects of the economy and
increased costs for Congress. A reception will be held in Washington DC during
National Public Works Week at which Congressman Oberstar and John Mike
(ranking member of the Transportation Committee) will be recognized.
6. Subcommittee Reports:
a. Stafford Act Coalition – Was discussed previously during the legislative
update. Larry provided three reports via e-mail and mentioned the bill
introduced to define specific public broadcasters as first responders and
provide funding to reestablish broadcast capabilities in time of a disaster.
Larry Zensinger will send a report
b. Homeland Security Advisory Committee (Judy Mueller) – no news to
report
c. HSPD-8: National Preparedness Goal, Target Capabilities, Universal
Task List, NIMS and NPR Update – Teresa Scott reported that an
announcement regarding the NIMS comment period had been posted to
infoNOW.
d. Credentialing: NFPA Standards Committee – Brian Usher reported that
NFPA 1026 is set to be approved next month and recommended the item
be removed from future agendas.
e. Credentialing: DHS Committee – Diane Linderman indicated that a
conference call is scheduled for Thursday and a face-to-face meeting in
June. They’ll be discussing marketing information and education. Four
positions are in the process of revision. David Himes is working on teams.
f. NEMA Homeland Security Consortium – Chris Walsh reported that a
meeting has been scheduled in DC for August (Jim will attend with Chris).
There was a phone conference call concerning NIMS documents. She
mentioned that it is important to read the cover sheet. The goal is to
finalize in late July.
g. SAFECOM (Jeff Wilson) – Jim Fahey indicated that SAFECOM is looking
at scheduling a summer meeting.
h. Conference Calls: TSA, Water Security – Jim Fahey had nothing to
report
7. Update on individual representation on working groups
Emergency Management Committee Conference Call Meeting Summary – page 2
a. Incident Management Working Group – Brian Usher forwarded a draft to
member earlier today and asked that they look it over and get comments to
him today.
b. NIMS Credentialing Standards Working Group – David Himes and Teresa
Scott reported that things are moving very slowly. There is nothing new to
report other than a meeting will be scheduled soon.
8. 2008 Congress – all members are registered for Congress
a. Education Sessions –
 Cascading infrastructure failure – Curt & Larry
 What Am I? What Is It? How Do I Do It? – Credentialing,
Resource Typing & NRF – Brian
 Role public works plays in evacuation: A panel discussion
addressing hurricanes, special events, etc. – Teresa/Teresa
 Employee care during a crisis – Brian & Teresa (joint session with
Facilities & Grounds Committee/Harry Weed)
b. Think Tank session - Monday, August 18 from 10:30am to noon. All members
will be in attendance
 What is the APWA Emergency Management Committee doing?
(committees, coalitions and working groups and how that helps our the
members)
 Outreach to chapter committees or representatives interested in
emergency management issues
 Current issues/trends
 Goals & objectives
 Bring up mutual aid issues which have arisen
 Open forum for questions and discussion
9. Publication Subcommittee to develop Recovery Operations Field Manual – Brian
Usher has been preparing for their agency’s accreditation site visit so Teresa Hon
will send an e-mail to participants to obtain feedback to develop a table to
contents from which to start.
10. White Paper on request for Presidential Task Force composed of one member
from each Technical Committee to address APWA’s position on Mutual Aid
Agreements. Teresa Scott will draft a white paper for the committee to review
and comment.
11. Reporter articles: Discussion of topics and authors for articles for the January
edition of the Reporter (due November 28)
a. Emergency management 101 or Emergency Management for Dummies: I’m
supposed to do what?
b. Homeland Security Consortium – Chris
c. Recovery & Continuity – Teresa Hon to check Jim Martin’s comments and
contact John Ostrowski for contact person from new publication
d. I-90 blizzard fiasco – Chris
Emergency Management Committee Conference Call Meeting Summary – page 3
e. COOP Plans – Brian & Teresa
12.
Schedule for monthly InfoNOW Community Postings (e-mail addressed to
emergency@infonow.apwa.net)
May – Larry Zensinger will post a message with the flood mapping PowerPoint
once Teresa Hon provides a link
June – Brian Usher
13. Action items from March meeting for completion of the 2007-08 Business Plan
a. Develop five abstracts/hot topics from which chapters can choose for chapter
events. Assist the chapter in locating regional speakers on those topics –
Members are to have one topic for consideration during the May call. Teresa
Hon will establish a timeline for this to be dealt with via e-mail.
b. Secure involvement of Army Corps of Engineers as an ex-officio member of
the committee – Larry Zensinger will follow-up on his initial contact. Larry will
initiate contact again as he hasn’t received a response.
c. Conduct outreach with other associations/coalitions on the role of public works
– Brian Usher to work with Diane Linderman to update the Homeland
Responder Training Network video. Chris Walsh had spoken at two regional
events.
d. Develop and/or partner in the preparation of standardized emergency contract
for engineering services and debris removal – Larry felt that something at
been posted to the infoNOW community regarding FEMA’s availability of
sample documents and/or guidelines. Teresa Hon will check past messages.
e. Update on outreach with chapters who have an Emergency Management
Committee
 Central Pennsylvania Chapter – Brian Usher
 Florida Chapter – Teresa Scott
 KC Metro Chapter – Curt Edwards
 New England Chapter – Larry Zensinger
 Texas Chapter – David Himes
 Wisconsin Chapter – Chris Walsh will be speaking at the chapter meeting
next week
14. Next Conference Call Meeting – June 4, 8:00am Pacific/9:00am
Mountain/10:00am Central/11:00am Eastern
Emergency Management Committee Conference Call Meeting Summary – page 4