After the Warsaw Chemical fire and spill in February, City of Warsaw officials realized that while their response was good, there was more they could do to respond to emergencies in the future. Friday morning, the Board of Public Works and Safety approved an agreement with retired Warsaw Police Dept. officer Michael Cox for emergency management services. The contract is for one year, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2016. “The city wants to enter into an agreement with Mike to work a little closer with our emergency management services,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said. “Following the chemical spill, we felt that that was a very good experience, that things were handled well. It was somewhat of a limited type of emergency, confined to a small area. It seemed appropriate that as we talked and had some meetings to evaluate how the city responded. And, certainly there’s always room for improvement, but when the emergency arose we were very pleased with the response of our police, fire and street departments, wastewater and stormwater and engineer. Everyone really worked together well.” But it also showed the city how important it was to be involved with its Emergency Management District and in the sharing of equipment, services and manpower when required, he said. “It really showed us the importance of making sure that we are prepared in the event that we have a much larger scale issue,” Thallemer said. “To that end, we did feel it was important to try and stay involved and to be involved the way we should with District 2 and Homeland Security.” He said there are a lot of requirements, as one would imagine. One of those requirements is that everyone have National Incident Management System training, but Thallemer said that’s “somewhat cumbersome” for a city of Warsaw’s size to make sure everyone has their certifications and there’s “many different levels of that training.” Cox has “a very keen insight” into the county’s emergency services and how they tie into the district, Thallemer said. “We want to bring that complexity and the ability to be able to respond and to have the district services available and to have everybody trained. It would be most appropriate to have Mike engaged to help us with that to get those things done.” Thallemer also said there were some safety requirements and programs through the human resources department that the city has to adhere to that Cox will help on. “So really what we’re looking to do is contract with Mike to beef up our NIMS training so that we’re all certified, and then that gives us access to district resources when we have an emergency,” Thallemer said. The chemical spill made it apparent to the city “how critical it was those others respond when we need them,” he continued. Human Resources Director Jennifer Whitaker said it will be a really good fit to have him working with her, Police Chief Scott Whitaker and Fire Chief Mike Wilson. Payment for Cox’s services will come out of three different appropriations – from human resources, fire and police departments. According to a copy of the agreement, the city will pay Cox an annual sum of $15,000, payable in monthly installments of $1,250 beginning in February with a payment of $2,500 on Dec. 1. Wilson said the unified command and level of expertise District 2 has “that is available to us” is “unreal.” He said having Cox onboard with the city with his knowledge of what’s going on with the district is “a win for the city” and he was “very much in favor” of having Cox onboard. The county has had Ed Rock in place as its Emergency Management Services director for a number of years. Thallemer said, “This is a complement to the county’s system. This is just a collaborative, complementary function that the city is looking within its boundaries to utilize our resources along with the county’s resources. This is a fully integrated position that again is very respective and understanding of the county coordinator and how far we’ve gotten with District 2 through that.” The agreement states that Cox is an independent contractor and “nothing in this agreement shall be construed to create an employer/employee relationship.” As part of Cox’s duties, he is to draft plan documents, ordinances or other documents for the implementation of the plan. Intellectual property rights to such material remain with Cox. The Board of Works unanimously approved the agreement.
