January 20, 2011
Members Present:
Rick McLester Vice President Rickey McLester Halo Flight Stan Upton Refugio EMC
Leroy Moody Board Member William Zagorski Sec/Treas. Terri Olivares SPC E911
Macy Culpepper San Pat Co. Fred Nardini Board Member Don Pullin Refugio Co.
Terry Simpson Board Member Mattie Atkinson Floodplain Delores Bacon Health & Med
Missy Beck SPC Safety Brandi Fisher DPS TDEM Sandy Olson - ARC
I. Call to Order:
The meeting was held in Sinton at the BackStreet Cafι. Vice President Rick
McLester called the meeting to order at 11:35 a.m. Rick explained that Bob
Blaschke had a prior commitment but will be at the 1:00 general meeting. There
was no motion to approve the minutes.
II. Organizational Issues: Rick McLester said Bob Blaschke asked him to address two issues. The first is the banquet. Mattie Atkinson took over and said the Appreciation Dinner will be held on February 24th at the San Patricio County Civic Center. Guest speaker will be State Representative Todd Hunter. Ski said they sent out a letter to Mr. Hunters office asking him to speak but have not heard back from him yet. Judge Simpson got on his cell phone and called Todd Hunters office to confirm and he was told that Todd Hunter is scheduled to be at the Lincoln Dinner instead. Ski said they have a backup guest speaker. Mattie then told the group POETS Restaurant will be catering the event again and to please RSVP to her once you get your invitation. Rick said the next item to address is the Budget Workshop and according to the annual calendar is should be held the last week in February. It was suggested to have it the day before the Appreciation Dinner on February 23rd.
III. Financial Report: Ski said they received a $2,000.00 contribution from Exxonmobile Pipeline so they are now looking at a balance of $37,108.59. Rick McLester asked if EO.N the windmill company has ever made a contribution. Rickey McLester said they made a $500.00 donation at one of the fall meetings last year. Ski said a new oil company named Trican will be operating in the county. They are in the process of rebuilding the old spice company on Highway 37. This company will bring in over 300 new jobs to the county and he hopes to get this company on board with the LEPC. There was no motion to approve the financial report.
IV. Subcommittee Updates:
1. Communications Leroy Moody said there have been no changes.
Ski said he is looking at a couple of sites near Aransas Pass. There are two
eighteen acre sites available. He and Carsten Meyer met with Aransas city
officials and they are willing to work with us.
2. Exercise Design Rickey McLester Jr. said he met with Leroy
Moody, Rick McLester and Ski at Howards Barbeque and they had a long discussion
about drill ideas. They touched on every topic but decided to go with
communications and to test out all the new communications equipment that is in
use. This will be good to identify any communication problems. He has developed
a list of key players that he would like to participate. It is just in the
planning stages but he would like to have a planning meeting to discuss
objectives sometimes in March. Rick McLester asked him to go ahead and set a
date. They decided March 10th would be good.
3. Hazard Analysis & Vulnerability Rick McLester said he had
nothing new to report.
4. Health & Medical Delores Bacon said she had nothing to
report.
5. Public Information & Awareness Bob Blaschke was not present. Ski
said at the March meeting he will have a vendor come in and do a presentation on
a new warning system.
6. Resource & Funding Fred Nardini said everyone heard Skis
report on the $2,000.00 contribution and this is the time of year they will
start getting the Tier II Contributions.
7. Training Ski said all the available training is on
the preparingtexas.org website. He is working on having a three day HazMat
Awareness Class down here soon.
Rick McLester said before he adjourns the meeting he would like to introduce Brandi Fisher and he asked her to let everyone know a little about herself. Brandi said she is the new DPS/RLO (Regional Liaison Officer) that took Danielle Hales place and she just actually heard about the meeting this morning. She said she just got back from Miami attending the National Hurricane Conference. They touched on the upcoming tropical forecasts and the SLOSH Program to estimate storm surge depths. Some questions were asked such as to how the state could help the smaller counties with more resources and sheltering. Ski said he was in Kerrville recently discussing the Shelter Agreement with them. Brandi said some things have changed on sheltering. Such as the different levels and Ski said he knows and that special needs will be going to San Antonio. Rick said he has been down here a long time and has some pretty intense stories on past hurricanes. Judge Simpson said himself, Leroy and Rick have been through a lot of storms and they have seen how sometimes the smaller counties are left out. Brandi said she is new and they need to tell her what they need. She would like to meet with all the Emergency Managers and go over past After Action Reports to see what they might need and she will make sure they will not be left out. The state has the resources to help everyone. A long discussion followed.
V. Adjourn: With no further business Rick McLester adjourned the meeting at 12:35 p.m.
William E. Ski Zagorski Sr. - LEPC Secretary/Treasurer