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State approves West Haven emergency operations plan; council receives sensitive copy
Summary
The cityof West Haven has a newly approved Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana told the council the plan was reviewed and accepted by the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and that it replaces a plan last on file in 2011.
The city of West Haven's Emergency Operations Plan has been accepted by the Connecticut Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana told the City Council on March 24.
The approval matters because, Fontana said, municipalities must have an approved EOP on file to apply for and receive emergency management grant funds from the state and federal passthrough. "In order to apply for funds and to receive funds through the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management Homeland Security ... you have to have an emergency operations plan on file," Fontana said.
Fontana told the council the previous plan on file was dated February 2011 and not approved. He described the new plan as a comprehensive document that covers local resources and coordination with outside partners including the American Red Cross, United Illuminating and the Port of New Haven. He emphasized the plan's sensitivity and told the council he would provide a physical copy for the chairman rather than broadly distributing the full document. "It's something that's very sensitive because there's a lot of information in here that is, I'll just call it sensitive in nature," he said.
Council members asked for a high-level summary and table of contents to circulate to the council. Fontana said the plan is about 200 pages and includes addenda, plus nine separate school-specific documents. He offered to provide the council with the table of contents and a controlled copy of the non-sensitive front matter, and to meet one-on-one with council members who need a fuller briefing.
Mayor Dorinda Borer and several council members thanked Fontana and described the emergency services director role as a central coordinator for public safety, schools and health. The mayor said the administration is committed to ensuring emergency management is current and that no "stone is unturned."
Fontana noted the plan is used as the basis for reimbursements after declared disasters and for unified command structures during incidents; he said the state reviewers were detailed and required multiple resubmissions before approval. He also said he would check with the state about Freedom of Information handling and whether portions could be shared more broadly if appropriate.
Ending: The council accepted delivery of the plan for its oversight role; no formal vote to adopt or release the document to the public was recorded at the meeting. Council members requested a table of contents and offered to schedule follow-up briefings as needed.
