Assistant Chief Mike Mandela told the Ocean Shores Safety Committee that the city has joined an interlocal agreement with Grey Harbour County to maintain a comprehensive emergency management plan that is refreshed every three years, and that the city will soon see a council resolution to adopt the 2025 version of that plan.

Mandela said the plan is large ("over 474" in size, as stated at the meeting) and that maintaining it is a condition of some federal funding streams. "Now you can talk about training and ask 1 thing, but now because we have a plan and now we have some training and we have some capabilities and resources in the city, we actually have to do some exercises during the course of the year," Mandela said, describing required incident command training, exercise types and a plan-review cycle.

Mandela described required training levels tied to incident command: higher-level personnel need Incident Command System (ICS) training while other staff typically need the ICS 100–200 series; he said many of those FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) courses are self-paced online. He said exercises could be tabletop or full-scale and are intended to test resources, reveal gaps (training, equipment or unrealistic plan language) and prompt plan revisions.

On funding, Mandela said the city currently has no dedicated emergency-management budget and that he will draft a small budget for the coming year. He also said he is pursuing a grant with Tim Huddl, identified in the meeting as a public works grant manager, for mobile response equipment (examples raised included portable radios, ham radio support and portable generators). Mandela said the grant application is due May 30 and that if the grant is not awarded he will propose a budget for subsequent years.

Committee members also discussed staffing and operational readiness for a planned south-end fire station. Committee members noted that construction and foundation work may proceed quickly, but station operations will depend on hiring and staffing. "Minimum staffing for that would be, what, 3, 2, 2... I mean, 2 to start with, preferably 4 down the road," one committee participant said when discussing staffing needs. Mandela and others said staffing shortages are the main obstacle to making the station fully operational and that establishing the station could improve Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings for south-end residents by reducing response times.

On personnel recruitment, staff said they are recruiting provisional firefighters and testing for current positions. Testing is tentatively scheduled in June; staff said they have many Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) applicants but are short on paramedic applicants. Staff said they plan to compile an eligibility list from testing to fill vacancies.

The committee reviewed holiday-event preplanning: a citywide meeting to coordinate Police, Fire, Public Works and other stakeholders is scheduled for June 5 at 11 a.m. at the fire department to prepare for July 4 activities and expected weekend crowds.

Separately, speakers described a structure fire on Monhead Loop the previous day. A fire official said Assistant Chief Mike Mandela, the speaker, and an inspector were first on scene and confirmed a working fire that likely started in a dishwasher; the occupant evacuated and there were no injuries. The official said crews secured the fire within about 20 minutes with assistance from District 7.

Council member Allison, identified at the meeting as a council member, praised the emergency-plan work: "I'm really excited about the emergency plan, and I think it's something that's a long time coming," she said.

Discussion versus direction versus formal action: the meeting record shows extended discussion of the emergency plan, training and exercises (discussion), committee direction to develop a proposed small emergency-management budget for the next fiscal year and to pursue the May 30 grant (directions/assignments), and operational planning steps such as scheduling applicant testing and the June 5 July 4 coordination meeting (directions). No formal motions or votes to adopt policies or appropriate funds were recorded during the session.