Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Emergency management: call volume up; county will store Red Cross trailer and accept FEMA grant
Summary
Emergency management reported rising 911 and officer-initiated call volumes for 2024, plans for staff training and space needs, and the committee approved a facility-use agreement to store an American Red Cross shelter trailer and accepted a FEMA grant (approx. $170,000) to support emergency management operations.
Emergency management officials told the Kane County Judicial and Public Safety Committee on Jan. 16 that 2024 showed unusually high call volumes and that the office is expanding training and preparing for sheltering needs.
Scott, director of the county emergency management office, said the office saw the highest call volume in his experience, with notable increases in both 911 calls and officer-initiated activity. “I am surprised and, kind of astonished by 2024, That volume of activity. I mean, that's the highest in my experience… since 2008,” he said.
The office reported a busy 2024: multiple winter storms activated the county Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and the county experienced ten tornadoes in 2024 (mostly small and with no injuries). Scott said volunteers and a recently expanded training program helped handle the workload; the office is also tracking staff hours to better document needs for mitigation and recovery work.
Two resolutions from emergency management were presented and approved by the committee. The first allows the county to house an American Red Cross shelter trailer on county property for rapid local deployment. Scott described the trailer as a 16-foot unit containing about 50 cots and related supplies; the Red Cross retains ownership and maintenance responsibilities.
The second resolution authorizes acceptance of the emergency management program grant from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and FEMA, a roughly $170,000 award that carries a 50/50 match and supplements operations and staff costs.
Roll-call votes recorded both approvals. For the Red Cross facility-use agreement the committee recorded unanimous aye votes from commissioners who cast ballots (Greif, Gumbs, Linder/Julio, Pepe, Williams, Leonard, Molina). The grant acceptance likewise passed on a recorded roll call with all voting commissioners recorded as yes.
Board members pressed Scott on sheltering capacity and mitigation work. Scott said the county is seeking volunteers and interns to support mitigation and recovery planning and is pursuing grants to harden facilities; he emphasized the difficulty of long-term mitigation without dedicated staff. Scott also seeks more training space for staff tied to new software and grants the office will implement in 2025.
What’s next: the Red Cross trailer will be housed on county property under the facility agreement; the FEMA/IEMA grant will move into the county’s grant acceptance process for administration and match accounting.
