Parkland commission adopts updated emergency-management plan ahead of hurricane season

The City Commission of the City of Parkland on Wednesday unanimously adopted an updated Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan intended to keep the city aligned with federal, state and county emergency-management requirements.

The plan, presented by Christine Garcia, senior director of operational services and projects, establishes a framework for mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and formally adopts National Incident Management System and Incident Command System protocols required by Florida statute. "This plan is basically a framework for protecting life, property, [and] community stability before, during and after emergencies," Garcia said during the presentation.

Assistant Public Works Director Bruno Mattel outlined operational details during activation: the city will use three activation levels (monitoring, partial, full), with Fire Station 109 designated as the primary incident command location and Public Works/Fire Station 42 available as a secondary site. Staff emphasized coordination with Broward County for resource requests and FEMA reimbursement, and noted that pre-negotiated debris-management contracts and finance tracking are critical to secure reimbursement after a declared emergency.

Commissioners asked about the costs of pre-storm preparation and whether routine staff time is recoverable. Mayor Rich Walker noted that some preparation is part of normal operations and that not all costs are guaranteed to be reimbursed. Commissioners also pressed for an update on a county-led 911 hub project; staff said vendor testing is ongoing, called out a duplication issue during testing, and described fallbacks in the event of a dispatch outage.

Vice Mayor Bridal moved to adopt the plan and Commissioner Kanterman seconded the motion. Roll call voting was unanimous in favor and the commission approved Resolution 2026-038 to adopt the CEMP.

The adoption requires the city to maintain compliance with county and state emergency protocols and preserves the municipality’s eligibility for FEMA reimbursements tied to formal incident declarations. Staff said they will continue coordination with county partners and provide updates on the 911 hub integration as benchmarks are met. The commission did not set any additional reporting deadlines at the meeting.