Agenda - 03-05-2003 - 8d - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 5, 2003 Action Agenda Item No. SUBJECT: State Mutual Aid Agreement DEPARTMENT: Emergency Management PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Mutual Aid Agreement List of Authorized Representatives INFORMATION CONTACT: Nick Waters, 644-3030 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider entering into the "North Carolina Statewide Emergency Management Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement" that allows counties and municipalities to provide aid directly to each other in times of disasters. BACKGROUND: Staff and the Manager recommend that Orange County become a formal signatory to the State Mutual Aid Pact. The mutual aid agreement establishes procedures and conditions that can be automatically invoked by participating local governments to assist each other in time of emergency without having to resort to a cumbersome and time consuming process of approvals that may render any needed aid either untimely or ineffective in time of crisis. As a result of five Presidentially Declared Disasters, including Hurricane Fran, within a 12- month period, Governor James B Hunt Jr. in 1996 commissioned a Task Force to address the state's long term recovery effort. The Task Force set forth 84 recommendations that would enhance communication, coordination and recovery efforts, reduce the impact of future storms, and help provide the resources needed to respond and recover from Hurricane Fran. When Hurricane Fran traveled across the state in September 1996, there existed no uniform agreement among North Carolina's cities and counties to provide assistance to one another during and after a disaster. It was apparent that without pre-established policies and procedures in place to address logistics, deployment, compensation and liability issues, intra-state cooperation was limited and inefficient. One of the Task Force recommendations (Recommendation 4) outlined astate-wide mutual aid agreement to be drafted by the League of Municipalities and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC). The League and the NCACC, working with the State Division of Emergency Management and the Attorney General's Office drafted such an agreement. The multi-purpose agreement provides efficient and effective assistance among governments, faster reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and covers liability and insurance concerns.