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Select Board reviews emergency operations plan, presses for clearer roles and volunteer list
Summary
Denmark officials reviewed a draft Emergency Operations Plan and asked staff to clarify who may request county assistance, standardize role titles, create a volunteer contact list and explore a registered SMS warning system; board members stressed limits on overnight sheltering.
The Denmark Select Board and staff reviewed a revised draft of the town’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), identifying specific edits to clarify roles, resource sources and public-notification methods.
Bob, who reviewed the draft with the town manager, recommended specifying who may request county assistance in an event that exceeds town resources. "Maybe we just say the town manager or EMD may request assistance through the county EMA," he said, urging consistency instead of the generic phrase "a request." Board members agreed language should be explicit about who has authority to make that request.
Discussion covered standardizing titles (for example, using “public works director” consistently rather than alternating with "public facilities director"), referencing county job aids and resources explicitly, and adding an acronym glossary early in the plan to reduce confusion about terms such as EMA/EMD.
The board also discussed operational details for mass-care and warming centers: maintaining a volunteer contact list or an attachable addendum to the plan; arranging training through county shelter courses or the Red Cross; and describing use of school buses as a conditional resource ("if available"). One member raised the town’s inability to offer overnight sheltering, noting the town lacks showers and long-term housing capacity.
Staff described an option to provide opt-in SMS warnings through a registered messaging provider (the manager said the town would need to register an SMS agent and may pay a small monthly fee) and said the plan will be updated once any such system is set up.
The board directed staff to incorporate the suggested edits, to add a short section on select-board notifications and to return a revised EOP at a future meeting for approval and for coordination with county and regional partners.
