LEPC takes over sustaining Command Vehicle 7

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Changes in budgets at the state level are forcing a Putnam County agency to take over funding of an emergency vehicle that has been housed in Putnam County for seven years.

Granted directly to Putnam County by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2008, Command Vehicle 7 (CV7) has been housed at the Greencastle Fire Department for seven years.

Although the property of Putnam County, DHS District 7 have paid a number of the sustainment costs on the vehicle over the years, with the understanding that it is available for use anywhere in the eight-county district that also includes Vermillion, Parke, Vigo, Clay, Owen, Sullivan and Greene counties.

Tighter funds for the DHS at the state and, in turn, district levels left Putnam County looking for the nearly $5,000 annual price tag on maintaining CV7's communications equipment.

At its bimonthly meeting on Friday, Putnam County's Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) voted to fund the $4,964.76 annual cost of sustaining the communications equipment.

The price breaks down to $4,187.88 for mobile satellite and broadband, along with $776.88 for DirectTV service.

LEPC President Dave Costin explained during the meeting that the LEPC has a $4,500 line item in its budget for such costs which has previously gone unused. It is part of an $8,400 annual fund from the state that has built up in recent years, so the cost is not a major hit to the LEPC budget as a whole.

Other upkeep costs on the vehicle have been and continue to be funded by the county and city. The county owns the vehicle and keeps it insured, while the Greencastle Fire Department is responsible for general vehicle maintenance and keeping trained personnel for its operation.

In the past, CV7 has been available for deployment not only elsewhere in District 7, but throughout the state and country, such as tornadoes in the southern Indiana towns of Sellersburg and Henryville, and even to New York for Hurricane Sandy relief.

In those cases, the city and county receive state or federal reimbursement for costs incurred in the response.

Meeting in conjunction with the Putnam County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) as it does on the second Friday of every other month, the LEPC discussed a number of other routine items on Friday.

A functional exercise is scheduled for 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 at four locations: the Greencastle Fire Department, the Emergency Operations Center, DePauw and Putnam County Hospital.

The functional exercise is the second step in a three-year cycle that included a tabletop exercise in 2014 and a planned full-scale exercise in 2016.

Costin was elected president, with Perry Wainman to serve as vice president and Lisa Zeiner as secretary/treasurer.

The LEPC bylaws were reviewed and approved by the membership.

Meeting after the LEPC, the EMA, which has many of the same members, also covered a number of routine

matters.

Wainman was elected president, with Tom Helmer as vice president and Zeiner as secretary.

The membership also reviewed an $8,700 request from Putnam County Hospital for upgrades and maintenance to its security camera system.

With questions about the overall cost and whether this falls under the scope of the EMA, the request was tabled until the April meeting.

The LEPC and EMA meet at 9 a.m. on the second Fridays of February, April, June, August, October and December and the Putnam County Emergency Operations Center, 1600 W. CR 225 South, Greencastle.

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  • why would a military vehicle need Direct TV? I can understand a satellite uplink, but television?

    -- Posted by Heron on Fri, Feb 20, 2015, at 6:52 PM
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