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Belton council backs creation of CERT program to formalize volunteer emergency response
Summary
The City of Belton approved a resolution to sponsor a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), transitioning existing volunteers into a FEMA‑recognized CERT structure, with staff saying training costs are minimal and current volunteer count at eight.
The Belton City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to sponsor and support a Belton Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a FEMA‑recognized program that trains residents in basic disaster response skills and formalizes volunteer roles under a program manager and tiered volunteer structure.
The city’s emergency management presenter said the program will train volunteers in search and basic disaster response, create a communication network for volunteers during emergencies, and allow the city to run annual drills. "This is a program, it's nationally recognized by FEMA. It will train residents in basic disaster response skills," the Emergency Management Director said.
Council discussion focused on the volunteer recruitment and program structure. The presenter said there are no or minimal initial costs to implement the program and that training materials and basic search training are free. "No. And right now even to implement the program there's no initial costs or they're very minimal initial costs and the training materials ... has already been factored into our existing budget," the Emergency Management Director told the council.
The Emergency Management Director said the current volunteer group had nine members but that one volunteer recently died, leaving eight active volunteers. "8. We did have 9. Unfortunately, we had, 1 of our volunteers pass away last week," the presenter said when asked about the volunteer count.
Council members asked about how the volunteer application process will work and whether council members or HR should be involved in recruitment and oversight. The presenter said the existing volunteers have gone through city background checks and that formalizing an application and background process will be worked out with HR as the program is implemented. The director also noted Belton High School is the community’s FEMA‑rated shelter and that other non‑FEMA shelters exist in neighborhoods.
The resolution to sponsor the CERT program passed by voice vote with no council members recorded in opposition. The presenter described a three‑year implementation roadmap: 2025 for foundation and planning (including launching the CERT), 2026 for rollout and pilot trainings, and 2027 for program integration and evaluation.
No fees for volunteer training were reported at the meeting, and staff said they will market volunteer recruitment through social media, city events and other outreach channels.
