Title
City of Gainesville Emergency Operations Plan (B)
Explanation
In 1993, the City of Gainesville created a new Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) maintained by the Fire Rescue Department. The plan outlined steps to be taken in the event of a disaster. In order to address problems which were not foreseen in the original EOP, the City Manager formed a "Y2K" Task Force in 1999, and it was subsequently determined that the entire EOP was in need of substantial review. The City Manager redirected the Y2K Task Force to focus on the City's Emergency Operations Plan.
The Emergency Management Task Force (EMTF) began meeting in January 2000 with the goal of improving the City of Gainesville's response capability in the event of a disaster. Objectives supporting this goal included:
- Complete a rewrite of the City's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)
- Provide for continuity of government operations
- Establish clear lines of succession within City Government
- Improve the overall awareness and training of City staff
- Pre-assign City staff members to specific roles
- Improve coordination and communication with Alachua County Emergency Management
- Develop a plan for sheltering family members of City staff
- Utilize each City employee effectively in response to disaster
- Seek grant opportunities that will support the disaster preparedness program
- Work with Alachua County in preparing the Local Mitigation Strategy
Thus far, the major objective of the EMTF has been to rewrite the EOP, with work proceeding along two tracks: 1) composition of an overall basic plan which the Task Force completed; and 2) development of departmental plans which are placed as annexes to the overall plan. Each department worked on its own internal strategy. A departmental representative presented that plan to the Task Force to evaluate and make recommendations. Gainesville Regional Utilities participated in this process and has included an annex in the EOP. GRU also has its own detailed technical plan of operations for activation in the event of a major emergency.
After two years of work, the EMTF now presents this plan to the City Commission for adoption. The plan will provide the core for future revisions, training of staff and citizens, and direction for mitigation, response and recovery efforts.
Fiscal Note
No fiscal impact.
Recommendation
The City Commission: 1) receive the report from staff on the progress and direction that emergency management is taking within the City; 2) adopt by resolution the new City of Gainesville Emergency Operations Plan; and 3) authorize the City Manager to make annual updates to the adopted EOP as necessary. (A copy of the Plan is on file in the Clerk of the Commission's Office. After September 9, 2002, the Plan will be on file in the Gainesville Fire Rescue Department.)