Charlottesville emergency management coordinator outlines training, exercises and shelter plans
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Summary
The city’s emergency management coordinator, John O'Grandy, told the Charlottesville City Council on Dec. 15 that the Emergency Operations Plan and continuity plans are in good shape and outlined near‑term goals: an incident management team, staff EOC training, three planned exercises and a 2026 sheltering drill supported by a VDEM technical assistance grant.
John O'Grandy, the city's emergency management coordinator, briefed the Charlottesville City Council on Dec. 15 on updates to the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) and continuity planning and laid out a six‑month work plan for training and exercises.
"Essentially, develop and update emergency plans, train and exercise those plans, run the city's emergency operations center, and coordinate at a state, local federal level," O'Grandy said, describing the coordinator's core duties. He told council that both the city's EOP and departmental continuity plans are currently in good shape following a recent revision cycle and November trainings.
O'Grandy said his near‑term priorities include clarifying roles and responsibilities in the EOP so duties are unambiguous during an incident and updating the plan's concept of operations so emergency activity resembles routine operations where possible. He also described plans to establish a city Incident Management Team (IMT): "By mid June, my goal is to have at least 20 members" who will receive preliminary team training and allow for regional deployments and cross‑learning via the Central Virginia IMT.
The coordinator outlined training milestones for staff: identify EOC members and achieve at least 80% completion of baseline National Incident Management System training for those staff by early April, host a late‑March two‑day EOC workshop with a target of 90% participation for identified EOC personnel, and conduct an incident management training or exercise before the end of the fiscal year. He said the city recently received a Virginia Department of Emergency Management technical assistance grant that will support a sheltering exercise in 2026, likely using Charlottesville High School as an activation site.
Using a hypothetical winter ice storm, O'Grandy walked council through activation procedures — contacting Dominion for power outage estimates, convening the MAC policy group, activating the EOC, coordinating with the county and university, and having DSS manage shelter opening and hotel placements as needed. He emphasized consistent, factual messaging from the MAC to the city manager and council so officials can communicate with constituents.
O'Grandy also identified a modest gap in pet sheltering supplies and said he and his assistant had a plan to address it. He flagged technology issues reported by some residents — in particular, a callback verification failure for VoIP/home phones on the CUA 911 alert system — and said he would follow up with the ECC.
Council members welcomed the update and referenced past communication failures as reason to prioritize exercises. O'Grandy closed by underscoring public preparedness: "Our plans call for people to be prepared to take care of themselves for at least 72 hours," he said, and asked leaders to encourage neighbors to check on one another.
The presentation ended with council questions about team composition, supplies and alert sign‑ups; O'Grandy said recruitment and further planning would begin immediately and additional details would be provided to council and staff.
