EATON — On Wednesday, April 19, Preble County Emergency Management Director Suzy Cottingim reported on the various activities her office has been working on since the first of the year, ranging from seeking grant funding to recent spring storms.
“I’ve had five responses for spills since the last time we met. Four were on scene, one was handled by phone, two were in the middle of the night,” she reported.
“I have scheduled a CenterPoint Energy pipeline training and compressed natural gas training for May 6. That’ll be held at the Expo Expansion and LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) has agreed to provide lunch,” she also noted. “That’s for all first responders. And then I’m also inviting the LEPC group. So, if you’re interested in coming, just let me know.”
The first planning meeting for the Solar Eclipse in April 2024 occurred in February, and other committee meetings have begun.
“We have decided after talking with the sheriff and Chief (Brian) Smith, we’ve decided to combine the committee that encompasses public safety, transportation, and communications because they all need to work together,” Cottingim told commissioners. “Everybody needs to know what’s going on in that group. So we had our first committee meeting back before April 1.”
“Then, I have signed Megan Jamison Griffis. She is registered in CERT of Ohio as a volunteer to handle the entertainment and the solar eclipse planning,” Cottingim reported. “She’s just coordinating all of those committees so that I don’t have to go to every one of their meetings — the chamber meetings and the Visitor’s Bureau, the education. I did meet with Lewisburg Arts on March 28, and the Lewisburg Chamber on April 11, to talk about solar eclipse planning, but she’s going to kind of oversee that group. We have our next large meeting on May 8. That’s going to bring all the committees together and that’ll be at the Expo. So, I have that building scheduled and it’ll be at 6 p.m.”
Cottingim said she will be turning in a request for funds that are available from the state. She also reported on other grant funding she had applied or would be applying for. “I applied for a commodity flow study to be done in our county as well as a hazmat tech class for the firefighters. I applied on March 17. Should that be approved, which I’m pretty certain it will be, 80 percent of that grant will be covered with a 20 percent match being paid by the LEPC. The FY 22 state Homeland Security grant for the MARCS radios, I have those specifications pretty much ready to send to the state for approval.”
She has also submitted the grant application for the Community Emergency Response Team.
“I went to the EMA Legislative Day and talked with two state reps regarding Critical Connect, which is a cross-border communication interoperability through the MARCS system,” Cottingim said. “I had been at some cross-border meetings and heard that they really need this. There’s apparently through MARCS in Ohio, a firewall they have to go through. So, the IT people are kind of against it. But it’s something that we need.”
Cottingim reported on having attended various trainings, including Norfolk Southern Railroad training. “We better not have a derailment,” Cottingim said. “They did provide us a QR code for their response. I haven’t had a chance to look at it but I’m going to send those to all the fire departments along the rail so that they have that and they can review that.”
The weather has provided other activities. Storms on April 1 included a confirmed tornado in the New Paris area, according to Cottingim. “The National Weather Service identified the New Paris area — northeast of New Paris — as an EF-zero tornado. The other areas in the county, they (NWS) reviewed my pictures and they just said straight line winds for those areas. I just actually heard back from Verona — I did not even know until a week later that there was damage up in Verona. So I went up there a week later took more pictures and submitted those pictures. I just heard back yesterday from an email from National Weather Service that was straight line winds.”
The Richmond industrial fire has provided some learning experiences. “It’s been very interesting. I’ve learned a lot there too. That state line creates some issues. Even though USEPA is handling the incident. Things were handled differently,” Cottingim said. She has sat in on the press conferences, etc. “We’ve had good communication with the partners. I’m getting questions as far as debris and what people have inhaled. You know, taken in through the plume. I sent those questions around to get a handle on. As far as the debris, I’m working with USEPA. I gave them priority locations to look at — of course National Trail is number one.”
“This is a great report and exciting — the number of grants that you’ve gone after for the county and the resources that are available to us,” Commissioner Rachael Vonderhaar told Cottingim.
Cottingim added, she would like to apply for grant funding to purchase a large generator for the Expo Building. Commission officials will help gather the information needed to do so.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on Twitter @emowenjr.
