Title
Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement for Emergency Management Assistance Compact, EMAC, and Pacific Northwest Emergency Management Agreement, PNEMA, Assistance Between Washington Military Department and City of Olympia
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager's Recommendation:
Move to approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the Intergovernmental Agreement and execution of the Signature Authorization Form, which delegates amendment authority to the City Manager and requests for reimbursement to the Fire Department/City.
Report
Issue:
In the event of a large disaster, the State of Washington on behalf of the affected jurisdiction(s) may request specially trained resources (persons) from the City of Olympia. If this were to be requested, the timeline for filling the need will be very short. This agreement sets out the terms of such a request ahead of time and streamlines the paperwork process for rapid deployment.
Staff Contact:
Greg Wright, Deputy Chief, 360.753.8466
Presenter(s):
None. Consent Calendar Item.
Background and Analysis:
Certain members of the Fire Department and members of the Emergency Management Committee have specialized training that could be valuable to other jurisdictions in the time of disaster.
In the event of a large disaster, the State of Washington on behalf of the affected jurisdiction(s), may request specially trained resources (persons) from the City of Olympia. This agreement creates the mechanism for that request to be filled by the City and for proper reimbursement to be received by the City. Without this contract being in place, the resource could not be deployed with the certainty that the City would receive reimbursement or may completely prevent the resource from being dispatched. The main contract sets out the overarching requirements. If there was a request for and actual dispatch of a resource, the contract amendment would be filled out detailing the actual costs and reimbursement detailed before any resource was allowed to be dispatched.
The Signature Authorization Form empowers the mayor to sign the original contract, the City Manager to sign Contract Amendments (to allow a resource to be deployed) and the Fire Chief to sign documents relating to reimbursement of the deployed resource. The state will only work with the jurisdiction if these items are already in place at the time of the disaster to assure rapid deployment of critical resources.
The City would only release a resource if they were not currently engaged in emergency activities here in Olympia or Thurston County, there is no requirement on the City's part to release a resource. Along with providing a needed service to a community facing a disaster, releasing a specially trained City of Olympia resource for work at a disaster is an incredible training and growth opportunity. The experience that will be gained by such a deployment will be of great value in the City for our next disaster.
The legal Department has approved this agreement for signature. No signature block was included for their signature on the agreement issued by the State of Washington.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
N/A
Options:
Approve the agreement allowing City Resources (specially trained personnel) to be sent to other jurisdiction's disasters and for the City to be compensated and approve the Signature Authorization Form, delegating signature authority to the City Manager and Fire Chief to expeditiously manage the process at the time of request.
Financial Impact:
None, all costs and reimbursements are agreed upon before there is any deployment.