Portola Valley Emergency Preparedness Committee approves 2026 priorities and expands outreach, radio and evacuation work

The Portola Valley Emergency Preparedness Committee on Feb. 5 approved its 2026 priorities and scheduled a presentation of the package to the Town Council at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11. The committee also reviewed a range of preparedness initiatives — from volunteer CERT classes and a new community readiness map to fuel-mitigation progress, a planned defensible-space assessor pilot and work on the AM1680 emergency radio system.

Committee member Dale moved to accept the priorities and forward them to the council; the motion carried after one abstention. The chair said Vice Chair Kim will present one slide on the town's EOP/EOC setup during the Feb. 11 council meeting.

Why it matters: The priorities packet groups the committee's projects for the year and frames requests to the Town Council for attention or funding. Several items discussed on Feb. 5 affect how quickly residents can get preparedness help, how emergency messages reach residents during outages, and how the town manages fuel-mitigation and inspections.

Training and volunteer recruitment: Committee members were asked to help recruit for an upcoming SER basic skills (CERT) class. Organizers reported seven people registered and 10 are required to run the class, which is scheduled for Tuesday…