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New emergency-management lead outlines ham-radio backup, hazard-mitigation work and Starlink proposal
Summary
Sergeant Lance Best, newly leading emergency management, described district preparedness structures, ham-radio backup communications, the county hazard-mitigation plan and a proposal to outfit a deployable trailer with Starlink internet to support field operations. He also flagged potential state wildfire interface mapping and related insurance/fee implications.
Sergeant Lance Best, newly assigned as the city’s emergency-management lead, briefed the council on Sept. 16 about preparedness programs, intercity coordination, drills and equipment priorities.
Best told the council the emergency-management program runs district and precinct structures with block captains who collect and report immediate neighborhood status during incidents; those reports feed the city’s emergency operations center. He said the East-Side Emergency Managers group meets regularly with neighboring cities and that the city participates in county-led multi-jurisdictional hazard-planning work.
On communications and redundancy, Best confirmed the city maintains ham-radio capability as a backup to cellular networks and acknowledged concern that operators are aging. "Ham radio is ... still currently being utilized," he said, while urging recruitment and training to sustain capacity.
Best demonstrated a portable Starlink unit and described its practical use for field communications: he said his mini unit provides Wi‑Fi calling and internet access with download speeds he measured at roughly 20–30 Mbps and upload performance he said was “250 to 300” Mbps on his test setup; Best proposed purchasing deployable Starlink-equipped trailer assets (with restroom and meeting space) that could be towed and provide a field EOC with resilient internet.
He also discussed wildfire risk work: county hazard-mitigation documents have been returned for state corrections and the state is developing a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) map and an exposure-score framework that could result in a fee for some properties to fund mitigation and education. Best cautioned the council to be deliberate when identifying local interface boundaries because state mapping and local identification will overlap and may affect insurance availability and potential fee application.
Best closed by listing upcoming preparedness events, trainings and drills (including a fall preparedness conference and mini and full 'shakeout' exercises) and asked the council to consider authorizing equipment or resources to strengthen field-deployment capacity. Council members asked follow-up questions about ham-radio succession, CERT training participation, and whether municipal actions on fireworks or WUI designation would influence state treatment of local areas. Best and staff said more analysis and coordination with county partners is needed before policy changes are made.
