Elk Mound one of few with emergency operations plan

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND — The Village of Elk Mound is one of the few municipalities with an emergency operations plan.

Bruce Brantner, Dunn County emergency management coordinator, spoke about the plan at the December 5 Elk Mound Village Board meeting.

“I commend the village for having one,” Brantner said.

State law requires all municipalities — villages, cities and townships — to have an emergency operations plan, but many communities do not have one, he said.

An emergency operations plan is important to have in a disaster, Brantner said.

The emergency operations plan spells out who, among village officials, police personnel, the fire department and the ambulance service, makes up the chain of command in the event of an emergency and who is responsible for handling certain aspects of an emergency, he said.

Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer, had e-mailed a copy of Elk Mound’s plan to Brantner so he could review it.

“You will let us know if anything needs changing?” said Andy Peterson, village president.

Brantner said he would, indeed, notify the village if something in the plan required modification.

The local plans dovetail with the county’s plan, and the county’s plan dovetails with the state’s plan, Brantner noted.

State law also requires that the emergency response plan be updated annually to make sure that the plan contains current information, such as the names of village board members and their telephone numbers, he said.

Safety equipment

On a somewhat related topic to emergency responses, Terry Stamm, public works director, reported that the state is mandating personal protection equipment for village employees and that the equipment must be available to employees by January 1.

The equipment will include vests, earplugs, chaps, steel-toed shoes and hard hats, Stamm said.

The total cost of safety equipment for village employees will be around $600, he said, noting that the public works budget currently contains money to provide the items.

Peterson noted that the village had received a $1,900 refund on worker’s compensation insurance and suggested that the money could be used for safety equipment.

Other business

In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:

• Approved a bartender’s operator license for Timothy O’Connor for the Pourhouse.

• Learned that the wastewater treatment plant will need lighting updates. Stamm said he is currently working with Bear Valley Electric and that he would communicate the cost to the village board if were over $500.