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Select Board adopts five‑year Emergency Management Program strategic plan; staff to finish operational CEMP
Summary
After a detailed presentation and member questions, the Select Board approved a five‑year strategic plan that sets priorities for Brookline's emergency management work; staff will return with a fuller operational CEMP later in the year.
The Town of Brookline Select Board voted to adopt the Emergency Management Program strategic plan during the January 2025 meeting after a staff presentation and a wide-ranging question period.
The presentation explained that the strategic plan sets four principal goals: (1) finalize and maintain the comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP) and associated hazard and functional annexes; (2) prepare the Emergency Operations Center and associated resource management systems; (3) develop and sustain a multi‑year cross‑departmental training and exercise program; and (4) pursue grants and other funding to support the office’s mission.
Cheryl Snyder, the town’s emergency management coordinator, told the board the plan is intended as the strategic direction for the next five years; she emphasized that a separate operational CEMP (the detailed response playbook and annexes) is in draft and will be presented to the board later in the year. Chief Sullivan and Snyder described existing alerting methods — including the town’s Alert Brookline system, geofenced messages, door‑to‑door notification when necessary, and coordinated social‑media messaging — and stressed the importance of consistent messaging during incidents.
Board members asked about evacuation notification, metrics and funding. Staff said Alert Brookline is the primary rapid public notification tool and that the town can geofence notifications to affected neighborhoods. Funding for the new emergency‑management function combines limited town operating support and grant funding; staff said they are pursuing available federal, state and regional grants and that an FY26 operating budget proposal will be part of the town budget cycle.
The board approved the plan by voice vote; the chair recorded the vote as unanimous in favor. Select Board members asked staff to return with the operational CEMP and annexes and to continue intergovernmental coordination on regional hazards such as widespread utility failures or large‑scale evacuations.
Why it matters: The strategic plan frames Brookline’s priorities for disaster readiness, multi‑department coordination, exercises, and grant pursuit. Staff characterized it as a living document; the operational CEMP will contain the step‑by‑step response procedures and annexes referenced in the strategy.
Next steps: Staff will finalize the CEMP and hazard annexes, conduct training and regionally coordinated exercises, and submit a more detailed operational plan to the Select Board for review later in 2025.
