Homeland Security Regionalization Meeting Planned July 31

ST. JAMES—Meramec Regional Planning Commission, in partnership with the State Emergency Management Agency, will be hosting a homeland security regionalization meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. on July 31 at its office at 4 Industrial Drive in St. James.

The purpose of the meeting is to bring together local governments, emergency management directors, county health departments, law enforcement, fire, ambulance, public works, utilities, 911 and volunteer organizations to develop a regional committee to serve the interests of Crawford, Dent, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Laclede counties, the five counties within Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop I.

For some time now, SEMA and the Missouri Associations of Councils of Governments have been working on a regional process to identify homeland security needs, prioritize them and assist in the allocation of grant dollarst to address those priorities. The process is modeled somewhat after the planning framework process used by the Missouri Department of Transportation, in partnership with Missouri's regional planning commissions and councils of government.

The 13-member regionalization committee—the decision-making committee—will be formed at the July 31 meeting, explained Richard Cavender, exeutive director of MRPC. The committee will be comprised of one representative from the identified core disciplines. "For example, at this meeting, the county commissioners from the five counties will come together and select one person from among them to represent the interests of all county commissions in Troop I," Cavender explained. "The police chiefs in the region will select one police chief to represent the region and so on."

It is for this reason that it is important that each core discipline be represented at the meeting, Cavender stressed. The core disciplines are: emergency management director, police chief, sheriff, fire chief, county health department, homeland security response team, city/county administrator, county commissioner, private industry-public utility, emergency medical services, 911, volunteer group, and city/county public works.

Homeland security grant fund information will also be discussed at this meeting as well as the application process.

Letters and emails were sent to representatives of the core disciplines in the five-county area. Persons needing more information on the meeting can contact Tammy Snodgrass at MRPC at 573-265-2993 or Jim Pasley, SEMA Area I coordinator, at 573-526-9262.

Three counties in the Meramec Region—Gasconade, Osage and Washington—are served through other regions. Gasconade and Osage counties are a part of Troop F, which is being coordinated by the Mid-Missouri Regional Planning Commission at Ashland while Washington County is a part of the Troop C, which is coordinated by the Boonslick Regional Planning Commission at Warrenton.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 23, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.