The Fremont County Commissioners have approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA)with the City of Florence which will officially give Fremont County its’ first Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The agreement had been in the works for several months. It would place the necessary computer and communications equipment for an EOC in the Florence Police Department’s training room. That room has been used in the past for managing several emergency incidents including the search for a missing Florence woman and recent wildfires in Fremont County.
Fremont County Emergency Management Director Steve Morrisey says the basis for the IGA centers on a grant secured by his office from the State Office of Emergency Management. The agreement spells out the obligations of both Fremont County and the City of Florence. The equipment placed in the EOC would not be put into use until emergency operations are actually initiated.
Morrisey was also on hand at the September 13th Board of Commissioners meeting to propose a list of projects that the county might adopt for use of federal funding under the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. Fremont County has about $90,000 in SRS funds that must be expended by September of 2012. The county is under a September 30, 2011 deadline to propose a list of projects targeted towards community wildfire education or mitigation. Morrisey’s list suggests the possibility of investing the money on wildfire informational signage, expanding Fremont County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan, reimbursing the local cost of helping fight fires on federal lands in the county, or distributing information to neighborhoods on wildfire mitigation steps they can take to protect their property.
At the meeting the commissioners also voted to adopt a uniform date of October 1st each year for the beginning and end of the three year staggered terms for the nine seats on the Fremont County Airport Advisory Committee. As part of the action the commissioners adopted a list of new terms for all current committee members so all will now be tied to the October 1st service date. Commission Chairman Ed Norden said the commissioners would then begin accepting letters of interest towards filling the three seats on the committee that expire October 1, 2011.
In other business the Board of Commissioners:
- Heard a report from Edie McLish of Fremont Economic Development Corporation. McLish reported that FEDC has begun a strategic planning process to look at ways the group can become more effective in marketing the Fremont County area. She said the process has begun with the FEDC Executive Committee and will eventually involve total membership;
- Ratified approval of an amendment to the 2011 Colorado Gaming Impact Grant contract so the county could get the OK to use leftover money to pave an additional 1.1 miles of county road on Field Avenue from Garden Park Road south to the Cañon City city limits;
- Approved a $26,000 contract for removal of more asbestos from the vault on the lower level of the County Administration Building so the vault can become usable again.