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. CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS MINUTES January 12, 2005 Mayor Gehrz convened the regular City Council meeting at 7:00 PM. PRESENT: Mayor Sue Gehrz, Council members Laura Kuettel, Robert Lamb, and Richard Talbot Also present: City Administrator Heather Worthington and Deputy Clerk Mary Shea Kodluboy Absent with prior notice: Council member Peter Lindstrom COMMUNITY FORUM: There was no commentary from the audience. PRESENTATION: Gretel Keene Ms. Gretel Keene, a Falcon Heights resident, said that in 2003, Falcon Heights was proactive and planned Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Falcon Heights then began a two year investment in the community, put the infrastructure together and implemented the plan. To date, 50 people are certified. She said that 2005 is the time for the pay-off on the investment. She has • seen what happens in communities having no Community Emergency Response Team, and gave three examples of her experiences assisting communities in Minnesota and Iowa, and working for FEMA in Alabama. She and a church disaster response team assisted with tornado damage in Minnesota in summer, 2004. When they arrived at their destination, the town's mayor was so stunned he couldn't tell them what to do because nothing like this had ever happened before and they weren't prepared. He told them that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wouldn't assist because the tornado damage wasn't big enough. The Red Cross and the Baptist Church had come and gone. There was no CERT team in the town, so working in teams of two the church disaster response team decided where to start. The second area assisted was in Iowa City after the 2004 flood and the scenario was almost identical to her earlier example. FEMA couldn't come and the Red Cross had come and gone. Two people from the Baptist Church were there with addresses for people who needed help. Again, there was nc CERT team anywhere in sight. How did she get to FEMA? First, in 2003, Mayor Gehrz sent out a flyer asking people to contact her if they were interested in becoming CERT certified. Out of curiosity, she went. After becoming CERT certified and a CERT instructor, she felt the need for more emergency training. An opportunity to work for FEMA came in early September when she was invited to work for them in Alabama. What she saw while working there were several coastal communities with no community • organization other than police and fire. FEMA was there because the destruction covered a number of counties and states. She never saw a local CERT person.