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Tompkins County adopts comprehensive emergency management plan with town appendices and COAD coordination
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Summary
The legislature unanimously adopted a countywide comprehensive emergency management plan designed as a framework plus town-specific appendices; officials said hazard-specific annexes and community organization (COAD) and disability-inclusive planning will follow.
Tompkins County legislators unanimously adopted a new comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP) designed to serve as a countywide framework with templates for town-specific appendices. Michael Stitely and emergency management staff said the approach lets towns leverage a common plan while adding local appendices for site-specific hazards and response steps.
Stitely described the plan as an "all-hazards" framework that will be followed by hazard-specific annexes (for example, mass power outages, harmful algal blooms or flood events) and companion documents that list agencies and partners to notify or activate. He said the County will work with community partners — including the COAD (community organizations active in disaster) and a core advocacy group focused on people with medical or functional needs — to co-develop annexes and sheltering plans for people who cannot easily evacuate.
Veronica Pillar and others said the plan should include clear procedures for community organizations to plug into response roles; Stitely said annexes will include checklists of involved agencies and that the county has a community preparedness coordinator engaging those partners. The adoption vote was unanimous by roll call.
