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Selbyville adopts national emergency protocols
By Sam Harvey
Coastal Point Legend
According to Selbyville Police Chief Scott Collins, the town has been working on National Incident Management System (NIMS) implementation for the past year, and he characterized Town Council’s vote on the subject as a huge check-off ahead of the compliance deadline, Oct. 1.
Selbyville Town Council unanimously adopted NIMS policies and principals at the Aug. 7 council meeting, by resolution.
The federal government mandates progress toward NIMS compliance. As Collins put it, “If you want your disaster-recovery funding, you’re going to do it this way.” Oct. 1 marks the beginning of the federal fiscal year.
Funding issues aside, Collins said he liked the system. He emphasized a slew of positive NIMS elements, starting with the Incident Command System (ICS).
“Who’s in control of the scene? NIMS tells you,” Collins pointed out. “This sets up a nice structure.” He said Delaware was ahead of the curve, relative to other states, due to its small size and statewide communications system, and fire departments were already ahead of the police in that they have already set up situational hierarchies that are very similar to the ICS.
The Selbyville Police Department was nearly up to speed as well, Collins added, with all basic line officers having completed their NIMS training and the command staff preparing to complete a last few classes. “We will have everybody trained” (before Oct. 1), he said.
Moving forward, the town would continue to train other participants, he continued. And not just the obvious players, such as paramedics and National Guardsmen, but also local water and sewer personnel, public works employees and certain members of town staff. Council members, too.
Perhaps in parallel with the push to include people from a more diverse field, NIMS also directs traditional emergency responders away from “10-Codes,” and toward plain language in emergency communications, Collins pointed out. Most people are familiar with one or two 10-Codes, like 10-4 — message received — but most of the codes remain relatively unknown outside the emergency response community. (Police and fire departments will still be able to use 10-Codes internally and in non-emergencies.)
“Another part of the program is we have to include the public in our training,” Collins noted. He commended the Fenwick Island Police Department for a recent newsletter on emergency preparedness, and said his department had just distributed a similar letter to all Selbyville residents.
He emphasized the importance of the public-education element. For instance, he pointed out, people trying to decide whether to shelter “in place” or to evacuate need to know that if they decided to ride it out, they should have enough emergency supplies on hand to sustain themselves for three to five days. It could take responders that long to reach them.
Collins also noted the close association between the public-outreach component and the Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT.
CERT members offer public education and training, and there’s more information at www.state.de.us/dema/citizen_corp on the Internet. (Some of the local towns have already established Citizen Corp Councils).
Collins said NIMS had prompted Selbyville to reevaluate its local emergency management plan, which he admitted had needed some work.
“We were more fortunate than many — at least we had a plan, a framework to build upon,” he pointed out. However, he said the old plan left certain questions hanging — whether a local emergency declaration would authorize town government to make no-bid purchases associated with addressing that emergency, for instance, or who at the local level would have the authority to order a mandatory evacuation should that appear necessary.
For more information on NIMS, visit www.fema.gov/emergency/nims.
In other town business, Council unanimously approved the final site plan for Marvin Maizel’s “Strawberry Center” project, slated for construction on roughly 7 acres next to Captain’s Pizza and Tingle’s Trailer Park (west of Route 113). The parcel is slated for mixed commercial development — a one-story retail building and a two-story combination retail/office building.
Council Member Jay Murray said council had asked the developers to tie into water mains in the trailer park to create a “loop” system, augmenting the town’s ability to flush that section periodically. Alvin French (French and Ryan), planner on the project, said they couldn’t create a complete loop, but could agree to tie into East Tingle Drive for at least half a loop.
Council unanimously approved the annexation of seven properties — some of them quite large — between Routes 54 and 17, northeast of town. “Some of that same block we’ve been annexing,” noted Council Member Clarence “Bud” Tingle Jr.. He mentioned several parcels owned by Orville Hudson, including one measuring 70 acres, and two belonging to Brad Hickman that total 36 acres. The parcels will come into town zoned as low-density residential (R-3), which limits development to 2.2 units per acre.
Mayor Clifton Murray covered the particulars of, and council unanimously approved, a resolution prescribing the details and form of a major bond sale associated with upcoming water and sewer upgrades. Selbyville has negotiated a 5.16 percent interest rate on a $1.76 million general obligation bond anticipation note with Mercantile Peninsula Bank.
As Town Manager Gary Taylor explained, the vote authorized interim financing. The town draws down U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds as the water and sewer projects progress, then the USDA sells the bond and the town starts paying Mercantile Peninsula.
Council also held a public hearing on and unanimously adopted a new zoning ordinance, titled “Wellhead Protection.”
The ordinance localizes Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) regulations, which cover protected areas around municipal wells and upstream of surface water intakes (wetlands or basins) and “Excellent Groundwater Recharge Areas,” as mapped by the Delaware Geological Survey. (Council Member Richard Duncan said there was only one excellent recharge area in the vicinity, southeast of town.)
The ordinance closely governs the use or storage of hazardous materials (primarily pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers), and prohibits septic tanks, drain fields and impervious lot coverage in excess of 70 percent, in the protected areas.
Finally, Taylor reminded everyone that the regularly scheduled September council meeting would fall on a holiday — Labor Day (Sept. 4). Council rescheduled for the following Monday, Sept. 11.
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