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Emergency management director outlines grants, plans and equipment upgrades
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Summary
Corey Petrone told the board he is finalizing hazard‑mitigation and mass‑casualty plans, pursuing FEMA and state grants, expanding volunteer CERT and radio programs, and seeking a $45,000 one‑time EOC technology upgrade; he also warned ongoing staffing and funding limits could affect program continuity.
Corey Petrone, introduced on the record as Columbia County’s emergency management lead, gave a comprehensive briefing on department operations, grants and plans intended to strengthen disaster preparedness across the county.
Petrone said the department currently has the equivalent of two full‑time positions and additional part‑time staff supporting grant management and volunteer programs. "Providing effective countywide emergency management program…that prepares for whole community preparedness and those resilience," he said, describing the department’s mission and the structure he uses to organize planning, organizing, equipping, training and exercising.
He outlined active and pending grants — including EMPG, SHSP and UASI awards — and said staff were awaiting FEMA to finalize some awards before sending related items to the board for acceptance. Petrone described progress on a Multi‑Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and a separate Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), noting the intention to coordinate community meetings and use the plans to pursue mitigation grants in future cycles.
Petrone described operational improvements: improved asset and inventory tracking, a county‑wide contacts database, barcoded asset tags, and expanded volunteer training (CERT, ARES and other county volunteer teams). He noted the department’s IPAWS/Everbridge certification for county emergency alerts and said Everbridge/IPAWS testing would be scheduled and reported to the board.
On equipment, Petrone said the county is working with partners to refurbish deployable water purification trailers and expects filter‑replacement costs to be lower than previously estimated. He said the department seeks a one‑time $45,000 investment for a digital EOC processing system that will consolidate situational awareness information and provide tablet/monitor access for municipalities during events.
Petrone also described regional coordination efforts, including work with Genesys EVAC to create public evacuation maps and participation in a Columbia River joint operations group to coordinate responses when I‑5 closures or landslides occur.
He flagged a structural issue affecting long‑term continuity: the county’s intergovernmental agreement that funded HSM (state homeland security funds) expired in 2019, and some partner agencies have paused contributions. "As things are sitting right now, I expect to end the fiscal year with about $111,000 left in the HSM fund," Petrone said, adding that if funds do not return, maintaining a half‑time coordinator will quickly exhaust that balance.
Ending: Petrone closed by asking for continued board engagement as staff flesh out grant acceptances and IGAs; he said he will bring drafts of MOUs and grant actions forward for board review when federal or state awards become final.
