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Commissioner Tom Balya Mayors' Forum
Minutes
Saturday, August 4, 2007, 9:00 a.m.
R&R Station Family Restaurant & Inn,
Mt. Pleasant, PA
Attending Mayors:
Susan Bortz, Derry
Jerry Lucia, Mt. Pleasant
Ed Lyons, North Belle Vernon
Bob Prah, Smithton
Corey Tragesser, Sutersville
Mt. Pleasant Council Members:
Joe Bauer
Frank Crivilli
Mike Davito
Jeff Landy, Borough Manager
Guest Speaker:
Rich Matason
Director, Westmoreland County Public Safety
Welcome:
Sherrie Windgrove, owner of R&R Station welcomed the group
to her restaurant and relayed some history about the restaurant
and Mt. Pleasant. Included was the fact that Mt. Pleasant is the
oldest Borough in Pennsylvania, being incorporated in 1824, and
that the town has two major crossroads, one being the
intersection of State Route 119 and State Route 31 and the other
the corner of Main Street (Route 31) and Diamond Street where
the World War I Doughboy Soldier still stands (after being
accidentally knocked over twice and re-erected by the town).
Ms. Windgrove also informed the group that the
R&R Restaurant has 17 verified ghosts in residence – most of
which are friendly.
Commissioner Balya then greeted the group and
introduced Mt. Pleasant Mayor Jerry Lucia and asked him to relay
some of the happenings in the Borough of Mt. Pleasant.
Host Mayor Remarks:
Mayor Lucia welcomed the participants to the Borough and
said he felt it fitting for the Mayor’s Forum to be held in Mt.
Pleasant once again, as the very first Mayor’s forum in 1995 was
held in the Borough. Mayor Lucia spoke of some of the
long-standing businesses in town, such as Cooks Lumber, Pritts
Feedmill and Browns Candy Kitchen.
The Borough is in Phase Two of the Light
Project, which is removing the light poles from Main Street and
placing them in the rear allies. Also very busy in Mt. Pleasant
is the Business District Authority that is working hard to keep
no vacant storefronts in Main Street. Mayor Lucia added that he
is very proud of the fact that the Borough has held the line on
taxes for the last seven years.
The Main Street Mall Project has been successful
in that two of the first businesses have expanded and now have a
separate business establishment out of the incubator. The Mayor
did express concern with some out-of-town owners of Main Street
buildings who are unwilling to repair or upgrade the buildings,
yet refuse to lower rent. A brighter note is that the Memorial
Square and gazebo are doing very well, and the memorial wall is
very popular to all, especially veterans. Concerts in the park
are held every other week with venders present from June to
early September.
Mayor Lucia reported that the local hospital is
doing great since the merger, with a $4 million renovation to
the emergency room. The updated emergency room is rated one of
the top six in emergency care in the state.
The mayor noted that the Smith Glass Plant is up
for sale. However, the old Lenox Crystal now has five occupants,
with a new one coming soon.
The Mayor thanked Commissioner Balya for all
help the County has provided for the industrial parks that have
created many jobs in the area, and also thanked Commissioner
Balya for help in the completion of the Bike Trail that runs
from Mt. Pleasant to Scottdale.
Commissioner Balya then introduced the morning’s
speaker, Richard Matason, Director of Westmoreland County’s
Department of Public Safety.
Guest Speaker:
Mr. Matason began his talk regarding the 800-MHz radio and
how well the system is working. Since the system went up in 2004
there are several hundred radios being used throughout the
county. Monroeville, Blairsville, Fayette County and some of
Greene County are using the Westmoreland County Regional Radio
System. Even with all those communities using the system, it’s
only at a 25 percent capacity on any given day. During a
large-scale emergency, such as the recent fire at the Keystone
Foam Plant in Derry, only 75 percent capacity was reached.
Rich related that FEMA looks very favorably on
grant applications received by regional groups rather than
individual municipalities. He informed the gathering that there
are 2,500 separate emergency management jurisdictions in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, thus making teamwork essential.
Rich then focused on two aspects of emergency
management. One is mitigation, which is prevention so that
damage is minimalized. The second is recovery, which, of course,
takes the longest time.
Two years ago the Hazardous Mitigation Plan was
mandated by the federal government. Once a Hazardous Mitigation
Plan is accepted by FEMA, it allows federal monies to be given
more freely. Rich urged all municipalities to identify and
report flood prone areas to Chris Tantlinger of Public Safety,
(ctantlin@co.westmoreland.pa.us or 724-600-7300). This
documentation must be in place to assure federal help if a flood
happens. If there is a Hazardous Mitigation Plan in place,
Federal Assistance in the form of money is much more likely to
be awarded.
The recovery aspect requires a damage assessment
team to be present while damages are still fresh, that is where
the municipality’s local emergency management coordinator comes
in with a camera (deemed very important) to document the damage.
Next, the county will do a more thorough assessment. That is the
only way to get federal and state funding. Documentation is very
important to enable a Federal Disaster Declaration to be
proclaimed.
The Mayors were urged to encourage their
Emergency Management Coordinator to attend the Emergency
Management meetings held bi-monthly. It is most important the
municipality’s coordinator is in touch with the mayors to keep
them informed regarding information gathered at the bi-monthly
meetings. Rich relayed he knows that is not happening in all
municipalities since there are three areas that have never even
picked up their radios.
Rich also informed the group of the Knowledge
Center Website through Region 13. Each municipality’s Emergency
Management Coordinator is authorized at that site, where
incidents are posted for all of Westmoreland County. If there
are any questions regarding the Knowledge Center they should be
directed to Dan Stevens
(dstevens@co.westmoreland.pa.us or 724-600-7300).
Westmoreland County is a Storm Ready County;
that is, all steps and programs are in place to handle any
weather emergency. There are not many counties in Pennsylvania
that can boast this readiness. Rich again reminded the group
these are some of the reasons it is critical that their
Emergency Management Coordinators attend the bi-monthly
meetings.
Rich touched a bit on the Urban Thunder
Exercise, which was rated one of the best in Pennsylvania, and
noted that it was very good training for all involved. Urban
Thunder was an exercise where the county’s Public Safety
Department did a tabletop report to the top officials of the
county that allowed the continuity of government while a major
disaster was taking place. All Departments worked well with
multiple incidents occurring. In fact, there where 26 incidents
in 30 hours. These incidents coincided with shift changes of as
many as 40–50 agencies, including area hospitals. Many different
scenarios were acted out, including search and rescues.
Rich related the National Integration Management
System (NIMS) if fully functional at county level and in 80
percent of Westmoreland’s jurisdictions. He reminded all
attending that they should encourage their Emergency Management
Coordinators to attend the NIMS classes in the fall. Rich also
stated that the Westmoreland County Pandemic Flu Plan is used as
a model in six other jurisdictions in the state.
Rich also focused on the significance of the
Region 13 group – 13 counties in western Pennsylvania that work
together to receive grant monies. Together they have worked to
disperse protective equipment to volunteer fire departments,
such as HAZMAT gear. There are three chemical detection machines
that can break chemicals down to detail each component. Also
obtained were a decontamination trailer and logistics trailer
that can be set up at incident sites as well as a bobcat and
trailer to aid in debris removal. This equipment is used in all
13 regions. All 13 counties have access to bomb robots and all
large departments throughout the region have bomb dogs.
Rich thanked Commissioner Balya for inviting him
and allowing him to educate the group on the achievements of
Public Safety.
With no further business the meeting was
adjourned at 1030 a.m.
(News of the next Mayor’s Forum will be sent
when a date and location are determined.) |
