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Commissioners renew volunteer insurance, approve five-year hazard mitigation plan and handle routine business
Summary
Richland County commissioners voted to continue annual volunteer liability coverage, approved the five-year hazard mitigation plan to preserve FEMA grant eligibility, and handled several routine motions including rescinding a generator ad, accepting an employee resignation and authorizing maintenance purchases.
The Richland County Board of Commissioners on May 19 renewed annual volunteer liability coverage and approved a five-year hazard mitigation plan that keeps the county eligible for FEMA BRIC grant programs.
Sarah Potts, the county's PMA director in charge of emergency management, told commissioners the volunteer policy provides additional liability protection for volunteers working under EMA approval and that the premium this year was about $900'$1,000 less than budgeted because staff had been paying for more volunteers on record than currently active. "We ask everyone to have multiple types of weather alerts, and it's always a good idea to have a weather radio," Potts said as she urged community preparedness.
Potts also reviewed the updated hazard mitigation plan, which the county must renew every five years to remain eligible for federal mitigation grants. She said the county worked with neighboring EMAs, ODNR, soil and water, the engineer's office, health, fire and law enforcement to identify top hazards (flooding and severe weather were emphasized) and that the county had secured one of the last planning grants to hire a contractor to update the plan.
On routine business, the board:
- Moved to rescind a May 12 resolution that had authorized advertising for the Dayspring generator project after OPWC funding had not yet been secured. - Moved to rescind a May 14 resolution to hire a Youth and Family Council director after the candidate declined the offer; the board said the council will reconvene to determine next steps. - Approved a corrected maintenance parts quote (discussion referenced $6,896 initially and a corrected amount of $6,500.78) and accepted an employee resignation. - Amended a Dell laptop purchase to reduce the request (a commissioner said the board should pay approximately half of the $5,112 quote, roughly $2,612, for one laptop).
Why it matters: The hazard mitigation plan preserves access to federal mitigation grant programs and the volunteer insurance preserves limited liability protection for citizen responders. The personnel and procurement votes were routine but affect county operations and budgets.
What officials said: Potts emphasized community outreach to campgrounds and tourists to reduce risk during flash flooding and severe weather, and she said the county would follow up with jurisdictions to provide the final hazard list by email.
Next steps: The mitigation plan will be filed to maintain FEMA eligibility; staff will implement the approved procurement and personnel motions as recorded.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 028; topfinish SEG 119.
