Dear Residents,
On Wednesday, February 22nd, the Village of Kinderhook convened our annual emergency management meeting to discuss emergency management operations. In attendance were:
– Village Staff to include the Clerk/Treasurer, DPW Superintendent, and Mayor
– Palmer Engine & Hose Company
– Valatie Rescue Squad
– State Police
– County Sheriff’s Office
The village had not convened an emergency management meeting in recent memory, so the first order of business was to ensure that everyone knew one another and had each other’s contact information.
Second, we reviewed and validated our emergency operations plan, which included:
Recall Procedures for Village Staff. We identified which village staff members would be required to report to the emergency operations center in the event of an emergency. We also discussed who would conduct the recall and ensure personnel knew to report.
Emergency Operations Center. We identified Village Hall as the primary EOC and the Fire House as the secondary EOC.
Succession Plan. The succession plan during an emergency will be the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Fire Chief, and Deputy Fire Chief.
Primary Means of Communication. Primary means of communication between EOC staff will be cell phone; secondary is land line phone; and tertiary is email.
Declaration of a State of Emergency and Sequence of Action. The first action is to contact the next higher municipality, which is the county. The POC is the County Emergency Management Director.
Dissemination of Information to the Public. The best way for us to communicate right now is through mass email and social media. It was brought up that we can also communicate to residents via text through NY Alert and the county. We will get smart on the emergency text communication and ensure residents know how to sign-up for it.
We then discussed various types of emergencies, how we would approach each one, as well as any critical vulnerabilities and areas of improvement.
I want to thank everyone in attendance for their service to our community as well as always being there for us when we need help. They are the heroes of our community.
If you have any questions about our emergency management procedures, please do not hesitate to contact me at mayor@villageofkinderhook.org.
Sincerely,
Mike
