To: Board of Supervisors, County of Sonoma
Department or Agency Name(s): Emergency Management
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jeffrey DuVall / 565-1152
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Department of Emergency Management Site Use Agreements
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Director of Emergency Management to execute meeting site usage agreements that include indemnification clauses.
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Executive Summary:
The Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management’s Community Preparedness Program (CPP) will be holding quarterly trainings for the countywide Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. Site use agreements for locations that will host the first two trainings include indemnification clauses. The Department of Emergency Management requests authorization for the Director of Emergency Management to execute site use agreements that include indemnification clauses for the CERT trainings and meetings as well as any future community meetings, trainings and exercises that support the Department of Emergency Management’s CPP programmatic needs.
Discussion:
Background
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriated Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the state of California to address the impacts of disasters that occurred in 2017. The Mitigation Planning and Public Services Program (MIT-PPS) was developed to support projects and activities that reduce risk to communities impacted by the 2017 disasters. The goal of the program is to have projects and activities that address risks to community lifelines that support health and safety, and mitigate future disasters. Community lifelines, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are services that enable the continuous operation of critical government and business functions and are essential to human health and safety or economic security, build capacity for eligible jurisdictions, assist local entities with planning, and support public services.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) manages the state MIT-PPS program and disbursement of the related CDBG funding. On January 8, 2021, HCD issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the approximately $22.4 million in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funding for the MIT-PPS Program. On March 9, 2022, the County received notification that it was awarded $500,000 in MIT-PPS funds for the CERT Programs project.
Site Usage Agreements
The agreements will provide space for Sonoma County CERT trainings. Training requires an online class, followed by an in person classroom training of two full days.
The CERT program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may occur where they live. CERT trains volunteers in basic disaster response skills, such as:
1. Fire safety
2. Light search and rescue
3. Team organization
4. Disaster medical operations
The CERT program offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. CERT is a critical component to our Countywide preparedness strategy providing information and network development across the County. The CERT Program scope of work include quarterly trainings for new volunteers, two refresher trainings per year, four community meetings/activities per month, and two advance skill opportunities.
Proposed training dates for the Town of Windsor Community Center are August 26-27, 2023. The Town of Windsor is a trusted partner in the area that is well known by locals in the area. Utilizing spaces such as the Community Center are important to ensuring robust attendance from the community. There is evidence of this location’s local popularity due to the 2023 Winter Storm Recovery Service Center (RSC) at this location that was well attended and centrally accessible.
Proposed training dates for the Russian River Health Center’s Resiliency Center facility are September 16-17, 2023, for the Spanish language CERT class, and October 21-22, 2023, for the English language CERT class. This location in Guerneville is a central location to many West County communities and Russian River Health Center/West County Health Centers is a trusted community partner.
The Department of Emergency Management anticipates future meetings, trainings, and exercises that will potentially be held at locations that require indemnification clauses in their site usage agreements. Future agreements will support the CERT Program, but could also be associated with the CPP’s Sonoma Ready Preparedness Education and Marketing Plan as well as other programmatic needs.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
An equity analysis was not conducted for this Board item, but the nature of the CERT trainings program awarded by CDBG directly supports projects and activities that reduce risk to underserved communities impacted by the 2017 disasters.
Prior Board Actions:
10/26/2021: Adopted a Resolution authorizing the County Administrator and Assistant County Administrator, the Director and Deputy Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), and the Director and Deputy Director of Permit Sonoma to: apply for funding; accept allocations of funding; execute grant agreement(s), and any amendments thereto; and execute for and on behalf of the County of Sonoma, any actions necessary for obtaining funding provided by the State of California’s HCD CDBG MIT-PPS Program.
Fiscal Summary
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
1. Site Use Agreement for CERT Training - Russian River Health Centers
2. Site Use Agreement for CERT Training - Town of Windsor
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None.