OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Hazard Mitigation Update – October 24, 2018

There was a meeting of the Newington Emergency Management Committee on October 24, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at the police department.

PRESENT:  Chief Andy Head, Chief Michael Bilodeau, School Principal Peter Latchaw, RPC Representative Theresa Walker, Building Inspector Kevin Kelley and Admin Assistant Diana St. Laurent.

Theresa Walker asked the committee to review the maps in the present mitigation plan which was done in 2012 and make recommendations for updates, especially the coastal vulnerability assessment data which was not available for the first plan. Theresa asked if there were any areas subject to flooding that need to be added, i.e., was the culvert mentioned in the 2012 plan repaired. Chief Head said to double check with Road Agent Thomas, but he believes the culvert has been repaired. There were some areas around Little Bay Road and Captain’s Landing that need to be checked for flooding and it was suggested that Theresa check with Road Agent Thomas on the status of the areas. It was determined to remove the “wild fire” hazard.

There was discussion of updating the “critical facilities” on pages 20 and 30. Chief Bilodeau asked that the police department be removed as an “emergency shelter.” The Town Hall is the primary emergency shelter and the elementary school needs to be added as back-up emergency shelter. Chief Bilodeau asked if we could use the Department of Environmental Services at Pease for an EOC. It was determined that it could be used and would be added to the list of facilities. On page 28 Map ID# 4 and 5 – the actual name of the power plants will be listed. Correct the spelling of Macintire Road to: MacIntyre Road. Also on page 29 Chief Bilodeau suggested listing Wilcox and Sig Sauer and removing the “Great Bay School and the Dormitory”. There are no day care centers in Town.

Theresa said that FEMA requires the Town to list whatever hazard mitigation programs the town already has in place and she will also check with Mr. Cougan to make sure the list is accurate. Theresa asked if there are any plans available to work with residents in town to prepare them for winter storms, generator availability, etc. Chief Head said that a lot of that information is on the fire department’s website, they do fire prevention week at the school and have an open house once a year to talk with residents. It was mentioned that there is a town website, a town newsletter, a new emergency waterfront evacuation website, an Emergency Management website, we have reverse 9-1-1 and Chief Bilodeau mentioned that the police department is set up with “First Net.” Theresa said that FEMA is more interested in the town’s preventative mitigation rather than reimbursement after a critical incident. Theresa asked if the Town has a vulnerable residents list and the Chief said that the police department has a “seniors” list so we can check on some elderly residents when needed.

On page 40 it was determined that Mott’s Pond Dam has been repaired; the water supply in the Historic District has been fixed; there was discussion about beaver damage repair; remove wildfire as a risk; boat launch redone, but check with Road Agent to make sure the rest of the repair is completed; will check with Road Agent about the culvert on Patterson Lane; the vulnerability of storm surge and sea level has been completed; the fire department works with DES on the off-shore oil spills; the effectiveness of the EOC is deferred, the equipment is in place but needs to be checked; the water pressure was fixed eliminating the need for cisterns or fire ponds. New needs mentioned were signage for emergencies and the evacuation routes; access to resources between departments resolved.

Meeting adjourned. The next meeting date and time to be announced.

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THE TOWN OF NEWINGTON NEW HAMPSHIRE
MINUTES OF MEETING

      September 6, 2018

Hazard Mitigation Update

 There was a meeting of the Emergency Management Co-Directors and members of the Town government to discuss updating the Hazard Mitigation Plan with Theresa Walker from the Rockingham Planning Commission.

PRESENT:  Co-Director Chief Michael Bilodeau, Co-Director Andy Head, Co-Deputy Fire Chief Darin Sabine, Theresa Walker, RPC, Selectman Michael Marconi, Newington School Principal Peter Latchaw, Road Agent Leonard Thomas, and Admin Assistant Diana St. Laurent. Building Inspector Kevin Kelley and Town Planner Gerald Coogan were unable to attend the meeting.

Theresa gave a brief overview of the reason for towns having a hazard mitigation plan in effect. She said that after hurricane Katrina, FEMA required every city/town to have a hazard mitigation plan in place. Initially the process was a type of “wish list” but now the process has changed considerably and each town/city has to prove to FEMA how it is becoming more resilient in mitigating hazards. If a disaster should occur and the town/city did not have a plan in place, they would not be eligible for money.

Theresa asked that everyone review the plan which was done in 2012 and be prepared with updates for the new plan. She said she will have some base maps at the next meeting for review of hazards that might be impacting Newington and any updates that might need to be done. Theresa said that after the draft plan is finished, the Selectmen will have to hold a public hearing on the draft plan and have a public comment period, after that it is sent to Homeland Security in Concord for review and they send it to FEMA for approval. After the plan is approved by FEMA, Theresa said she will come back to the Selectmen to adopt the plan and we will be good for another 5 years. Theresa said FEMA is interested in seeing if you have identified what natural hazards you are prone to, what you have in place to be responsive, an action plan of how you would change this and how you educate the public. The first part of the plan talks about what the hazards are in Newington, where they impact you and the second half of the plan is all the critical facilities in Newington, and the last section of the plan deals with what we have in place to deal with the hazards and this is what we would like to be doing to be better prepared.

There was a brief review of the current plan. Selectman Marconi asked that “drought” hazard be added to the plan and it was recommended that storm surges be added also.

Theresa said that adding those hazards requires the Town to have a plan in place to address the hazards. There was a discussion about extreme temperatures and it was decided not to add it to the plan. Theresa asked that the list of critical facilities in the last plan be corrected and/or updated and sent to her before the next meeting. Chief Bilodeau mentioned that Great Bay School is no longer there.

Theresa said she will e-mail the 2013 plan and Diana will distribute it to everyone. Theresa requested that any changes/updates be sent to her before the October 11, meeting so she can add the changes to the draft plan.

The next meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

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MINUTES OF MEETING
September 12, 2018

    Waterfront Emergency Plan Workshop

 There was a meeting on September 12, 2018 with Jane Hubbard to go over the draft Waterfront Emergency Response Plan and have a table-top exercise. A list of the attendees is attached to these minutes.

Jane Hubbard of Hubbard Consulting LLC opened the meeting by going over the draft copy of the waterfront plan. Jane said after going over the plan they will break out into groups of 4 to go over the series of questions that are addressed at different sections of the plan and then after that there will be a “round robin” with the four groups. The last half hour of the meeting will be used for questions and suggestions for changes to the plan if needed.

As the review of the plan Jane told the group that a little over a year ago the Town of Newington contacted her in response to a review of the state-level for the expansion of the SEA-3 facility and one of the requirements for the allowance of that expansion was for the town to develop a waterfront emergency response plan and public notification had to be a part of the plan. Jane said there have been several meetings to develop the plan and today is the day to look at the plan and see where we can improve it.

There was a review of pages 3 through 7 and 8 identifying some of the key facilities, those being SEA-3, Eversource, Sprague, and Little Bay Lobster and also identified some of the chemicals that are there. After the review of the draft went out we met with the town and the EPA and discussed some changes as far as the evacuation goes. The EPA and DHS recommended that the evacuation of approximately a half to one mile be expanded. Jane said there will probably be changes to the plan in the near future to include this last minute information and the list of hazards as they are now may change in the future also.

Existing local, state and regional plans and procedures of surrounding towns/cities and departments are listed on page 8. The police chief and fire chief will be provided digital copies of these plan.

Section 6 covers how the Town of Newington would organize under ICS. The first senior fire officer on scene would assume the role of incident commander. In an incident the OEM Center is here at the police department. There was talk about using DES’s Emergency Center at Pease if needed. There is an appendix covering the notification process. Appendix C covers general evacuation procedures. Appendix D covers traffic management. Jane said she created a website that is dedicated specifically to waterfront emergencies and it can be linked to the town, fire and police department websites.

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m.

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THE TOWN OF NEWINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Established 1713

Office of Emergency Management