The meeting was held at the Emergency Operations Center at Benicia Fire Station 11, commencing at 1539 hours. The list of attendees will be found at the end of these minutes. The following topics of discussion are in the order of the meeting agenda prepared by Chairman Bob Mutch.

Neighborhood Watch/BERT Assimilation ­ Lance DuPuis

Enrollments are occurring ahead of last year's schedule. BERT is being promoted at all meetings.

Volunteer Fire Recruitment and Training Update ­ Chief Hanley

Four to six new volunteers will soon be on board. The authorized limit is 20 total volunteers.

VolunteerWorks Data Migration and Implementation ­ Bob Mutch

Bob Mutch will coordinate with Chief Gantt to implement software on the city network for tracking volunteer time.

Shelter Survey Status

Chief Hanley distributed copies of shelter survey status as of 2/7/2005, prepared by Leslie Kvasnicka.

Cache Deployment Status ­ Chief Gantt

Funding has been received and cache item shortages have been ordered. All items are expected to be received within two weeks. Eight cache sites have been established around the city, plus three in Rancho Benicia.

Management Zone Team Meeting Status ­ Jean Colomy

Six management zone team meetings have already been held or scheduled. One of the recurring topics from these meetings has been recruitment. For door to door recruiting, Lance Du Puis suggested using plastic door hanger bags to leave BERT information for those not at home. Bob Mutch will investigate the acquisition of these bags.

Marion McKown has the Parks and Recreation Department approval to include BERT recruiting information in their next city-wide mailing. The deadline for submittal for printing is March 15, 2005.

Chief Gantt suggested that recruiting information omit specific class start dates. Art Mayoff will coordinate content with Chief Gant.

Bob Mutch asked that management zone team meeting reports be distributed to all team captains. Bob will develop a standard format for the reports.

Chief Gantt reported that BERT refresher training on disaster medicine and triage will be held on Saturday, March 26, 2005, and a city-wide disaster drill on Saturday, April 30, 2005.

Citizen Corps Council and BERT Grant Status ­ Chief Hanley

$20,000 has been received, of which $3,000 is slated for the Council and $17,000 for BERT. An additional $9,000 may be received if Rio Vista does not accept the grant from the county.

Action for the next Council meeting is to consider how to use the funds.

ACS Drill Results, March Drill, County's Offer ­ National Drill in June­ Art Mayoff

The January 29 HAM/BERT drill was very successful, with about 27 participants. The next drill will be on Saturday, March 5, 2005, following the same scenario as before, but with changed assignments. To date, 14 HAMS and 4 BERT team captains have signed up. The drill will start at 0900 and conclude by 1200.

Bob Mutch wants to make maximum use of the public access television channel to show videos of the March drill.

As last year, ACS will participate in the June national emergency drill. The portable emergency radio station will operate at the Fire Museum. The exact role for ACS in the drill will be discussed at the next Council meeting.The County is making available the emergency command post, EM2, which will be located at First and B Streets for volunteer recruitment.

April EOC Drill Preparation (HAM/BERT Roles) ­ Chief Gantt

The drill will commence at 0900 on Saturday, April 30, 2005. Team leaders will be given specific assignments, such as triage, etc. Neighbors in the actual neighborhoods where the drill occurs will be encouraged to participate. Reports from the teams will be compiled and included in the debriefing. Emphasis will be placed on identifying areas needing improvement.

Chief Gantt will coordinate with Officer Baron in exploring possible roles for VIPS in the drill.

The content of the April drill will be provided to BERT management zone team captains during the March 26 refresher training.

Three city-wide collection points for the injured have been established: West 9th Street Park, Community Park, and the East H Street ball fields.

BERT Class #9 ­ Chief Gantt

The class starts Tuesday, March 1, and concludes Saturday, April 2. The class will be limited to 25.

BERT Video Training Update ­ Chief Gantt

Cleanup and editing of the video will be completed within the next 30 days. The student manual is also being updated and a section on terrorism added. The video, with student manual, will be available for checkout at the library and fire station. Students who use the video will be given a final exam and will participate in a hands-on disaster exercise.

Other Items

Chief Gantt suggested we have a BERT stand at this year's Farmers' Market.

Bob Mutch wants to activate BERT recruiting through Benicia businesses and asked everyone to identify such affiliated groups for recruitment. This will be discussed at the March Council meeting.

Bob Mutch has asked the Benicia Superintendent of Schools to have a representative attend Council meetings.

Attendees suggested providing businesses with basic emergency reference data, such as emergency contacts, procedures, etc.

Officer Baron reported that, in attending a recent meeting of Northern California Police Volunteer Coordinators, she was proud to learn that the Benicia Fire Department is a leader in establishing BERT.

Conclusion

The meeting concluded at 1709.

The next meeting is scheduled at the same time and place on Wednesday, March 16, 2005.

Attendees

Name and Affiliation

Patti Baron, Benicia Police Dept.
Russ Clifton, ACS/BERT/BCCC
Jean Colomy, BERT Support Group
Len Corbaley, BERT/BARC
Lance DuPuis, Neighborhood Watch
Gene Gantt, Benicia Fire Dept
Ken Hanley, Benicia Fire Dept.
Art Mayoff, ACS/BERT/VIPS
Marion McKown, BERT Support Group
Joe Murray, BCCC scribe/BERT/VIPS
Bob Mutch, BCCC Chairman