The City Council has authorized Mayor Robert Steele to sign an emergency cooperative agreement with Juab County for use of facilities, equipment and personnel to alleviate the effects of emergencies.
"This culminates several months work on the master plan. It is good to see all the hard work pay off," Steele said.The agreement will allow Nephi and Juab County to use each other's facilities and personnel in case of an emergency, Steele said. The county signed its counterpart of the agreement earlier, he said.
In addition, the council agreed to sign an emergency housing and disaster relief agreement with the American Red Cross to provide city equipment and facilities to the Red Cross in case of emergency or disaster.
"It is important to have a place for citizens to go to in case of an emergency," Steele said. "It will be good to be able to help others in the event we have a disaster of some sort in the state."
Steele said people from other communities might be brought to Nephi if there were some sort of disaster or emergency along the Wasatch Front, for example, that did not involve Nephi.
The Red Cross agreement states the disaster services director, when notified of any impending or in progress disaster, will activate the chapter disaster response plan. The director, or his designate, will coordinate relief activates as they apply to the Red Cross.
Emergency mass care assistance might be providing food for victims and emergency workers and providing temporary shelter, medical and nursing aid and clothing.
When the executive director or disaster chairman notifies the area of any impending or in-progress disaster, the designated committees within the chapter will activate in-house emergency plans outlining specific activities to be accomplished as soon as possible.
Designated representatives will be notified to serve as government liaison with the emergency operations coordinator and to work with the shelter systems officer. The chapter communications coordinator will be notified to take up duties at chapter headquarters and establish radio contact with appropriate agencies.
The city administrator and the emergency operations coordinator will evaluate and determine which buildings will be open as Red Cross shelters. For Red Cross designated shelters, administrative responsibility and financial commitment for expenditures are inseparable and the Red Cross will make no commitment for expenditures other than those for designated shelters agreed on by the Red Cross and Nephi emergency operations coordinator.