Garner EOC Manager Paul Padgett told the town council on Nov. 25 that the town has rebuilt its emergency operations center to prioritize prevention, mitigation and recovery alongside response. Padgett said the EOC's role is to coordinate information and resources during incidents and to ensure field teams have the tools they need.

"Preparedness is making sure that we are prepared as a community to meet these needs when they occur," Padgett said, summarizing the EOC's mission and the planning work under way. He recounted recent uses of the EOC for nonemergency events such as July 3 and a December holiday event, activations for two tropical storms and three winter storms, and a tabletop exercise conducted the previous Friday.

The EOC presentation said the town offers ICS 100, 200, 700 and 800 training online and held an on-site ICS 300 week-long course that nearly 50 staff completed. Padgett said staff are building a resource inventory and are leveraging technology such as Nearmaps imagery, vehicle geotabs to track closest field resources and Microsoft Teams and SharePoint for information sharing.

Padgett identified the upstairs training room as the primary EOC facility, with Station 5 and the police department training room as secondary sites, and emphasized planning for redundant internet and power sources. When asked about generator backup, Padgett confirmed town hall, the police department and public works have generators and said Station 109 will be generator-backed once it comes online.

Council members asked about the EOC's role in incidents beyond natural disasters. Mayor Pro Tem Vance and others cited past local incidents such as an industrial explosion and the WakeMed shooting; Padgett and Assistant Town Manager Matt Poole said the EOC is intended to support any incident that affects the community and that activation decisions follow established thresholds and data-driven monitoring.

Padgett and Poole also described partnership steps: staff have reached out to a local hotel for potential staff lodging, considered the recreation center as a distribution or staging site and rely on updated mutual-aid agreements and Wake County coordination for incidents that exceed Garner's capacity. Padgett recommended continuing exercises, expanding community outreach to faith and volunteer organizations and incorporating recovery contact lists into the emergency plan.

The council praised the work and asked staff to continue no-notice testing and outreach to community partners. Padgett closed by thanking the council for support and urging continued investment in planning and training.