Durham selectmen discuss emergency shelter and notification procedures

Where do you go in an emergency in Durham?

The Durham Board of Selectmen spent a large portion of their Nov. 17 meeting discussing the emergency management shelter and emergency notification system. First Selectman Laura Francis said it was identified several years ago that the emergency generator at Strong School, current location of the town's shelter, is not adequate to maintain all life functions. In case of a power outage, food shortage or any emergency, the current shelter only addresses minimal life functions, such as lighting.

Francis said the engineering studies have been in the budget for years and now the assessment phase is done. The next step is the design work, and she said the town is ready to move along with the project.

Francis Willett, emergency management director, has analyzed Coginchaug High School as a new shelter location because it has the capacity to support Durham's 10,000 residents if needed. Willett said the high school generator is more than adequate to support all life functions.

"Our current shelter doesn't support all of our needs," said Francis. "This new shelter will hold 250 to 1,000 people."

Willett affirmed that the project is not an upgrade for the school, rather it is strictly a shelter in case of an emergency. According to Willett, the areas of the high school that would be used for shelter include the gymnasium and its lobby area, cafeteria, north locker room facility and a hallway section for a pet shelter. The project will start when school is out of session, and will include wiring the generator and making sure it is robust enough to power all those areas.

Willett emphasized the importance of the shelter as a meeting facility and, in case of a long duration event, a place for status meetings and press conferences.

In terms of expenses, Willett said the price is broken up into different pieces. The initial assessment and startup cost is $3,400, and it will cost another $5,000 to manage bids and get materials, "essentially to get it on the ground running," he said. The total cost of the project is $45,000, and $35,000 of the total will be allocated to capital funding.

"The good news is we can do the project over several budget years so the fiscal impact is not as great," Francis said, adding that she would like to talk scheduling right away.

"If construction will start in June and we still have to go to the Board of Finance and Board of Education, we need to discuss it now to have time for all the necessary steps," Francis said. "I believe this is a very important item because a shelter is the first step to keep everybody safe."

The selectmen agreed and unanimously voted to move forward with the project.

The second topic addressed by Willett was the emergency notification system. In an emergency, the system can select residents or individuals to contact either through an automated voice message or a text message. Willett said it is crucial that anyone in the town hall, fire department or EMS can access the system.

"An emergency isn't going to wait if Laura isn't at her desk, or I'm out on the road," he said.

On top of this element, Willett said the system needs to handle 10,000 residents, keeping in mind that each household has on average of three phone numbers. He also wants to find a system that confirms when the person received the message and keeps sending the notification until it has gone through. He cited the University of Connecticut, whose text messaging alert system sent texts to all students in a recent incident, but many were not received for up to 10 hours.

Lastly, Willett wants to find Durham a system that can be used in non-emergency situations. To clarify, Francis said it would be similar to how residents of Crooked Hill have been contacted via e-mail to let them know the status and details of the project. Some notification systems would not do this type of messaging because it's not part of their emergency protocol, she said. Francis said she wants to be careful in picking out the best system for the town's needs.

"Price and the back end of the infrastructure is what you want to look for in the vendor," Willett said, adding that the state-preferred vendor, Reverse 911, costs $40,000 just to get the system into town plus $20,000 for maintenance.

The BOS concluded the discussion saying that they will look further at their vendor option. Francis noted that Middlefield and District 13 would like to share the community notification system, and she plans to set up a meeting with Jon Brayshaw to discuss it.

Local Traffic Authority Procedures

On a different topic, Francis gave each selectman a "big, giant binder" addressing local traffic authority standard operating procedures.

"I have been uncomfortable with how to make decisions about traffic so I wanted some guidance," she said. Francis explained that citizens have been able to make requests for stop signs and speed limit signs through a service request system. In the past, these requests were sent to the Public Safety Committee, which was a lengthy, time consuming process. Francis also emphasized that the committee is not the number one local traffic authority, the BOS is. Therefore, she reviewed all the documentation and put it into binders outlining the procedure and how to formally get opinions to address the requests.

"For people to have to go through the local traffic committee before us is unnecessary," Francis said.

Resignations and appointments

The BOS announced that Althea Parmelee has resigned from the Senior Citizen Board and the vacancy will be filled next week. During the meeting, Becky Downs Anderson was appointed to a vacant position, once belonging to Mary DiMella, on the same board.

Finally, it was announced that Nat Church retired as Democratic registrar of voters and her deputy Karen Cheyney was elected in the presidential election.