The Bella Vista Public Safety Committee held their bi-monthly meeting on April 13 to discuss the current state of multiple ongoing projects underway by the city to promote public safety. The committee did not have enough members present to have a quorum, so no official votes were taken.
Fire station No. 4 update
According to Mayor Peter Christie, construction on the new fire station, which will double as a backup city hall in the case of an emergency, is moving along faster than anticipated.
"(Workers have) just about finished all of the drywall," he said. "They're focused now on pouring the concrete all around the building, starting at the back of the building ... eight inches of reinforced concrete, I believe. Instead of saying (the station will open at) the beginning of June or the end of May, we're now saying the end of May. They've been able to pick up lost time, so that's all good news."
According to Fire Chief Steve Sims, the station, once completed, will represent a uniquely versatile space that will include storm shelters and redundant computer servers.
"It will basically be a hub (like City Hall) for city operations," he said.
"We're going to have redundant carriers as well," Christie said. "We'll have dual entry of two carriers, coming in on separate conduits, so that if we lose one we'll have the other all set and ready to go."
Disaster Planning
The committee also provided an update on their ongoing efforts to improve the city's disaster readiness. Committee Chairman Jack Fellenzer said that one way the city is working on preparedness is by enlisting the Ham Radio Club, which can communicate when all other forms of digital communication are destroyed.
"We'd like to integrate our ham radio operators for our disaster readiness plan," Fellenzer said, adding that he and Police Chief Ken Farmer have attended several of the club's meetings.
"Things are moving forward," Farmer said. "We're about to finish work on the repeater, so that it's more operational. Basically, the group has indicated that the group will develop its own plan. When it's developed, we'll add that as an addendum to our overall disaster plan."
The Ham Radio Club plans to form a committee to come up with specifics of the plan.
Fellenzer said that he and Farmer have approached the Ham Radio Club for the possibility of providing tutorials for ham radio operation for those in the community interested in taking a certification exam.
"At last week's meeting we talked about three scenarios when the ham radio operators would be beneficial," Farmer said. "Special events, storms/severe weather and disasters. Right now we have missed the window for the storm spotters class that was hosted by Bentonville."
Farmer said he would like to get a meteorologist to visit from the National Weather Service office in Tulsa to help with the plan.
Fellenzer said that the committee is encouraging residents to take a FEMA course online that will prepare individuals for disasters.
"FEMA tells you it takes 10 hours to study and take the course," said Christie. "It only took me 45 minutes."
The course lists materials to have in case of an emergency, including clothing, food and first aid.
"This all falls in with the mayor's intention to increase public awareness," Fellenzer said. "If we can get people interested in taking Course 002, which is at www.ready.gov, it will provide basic needs everyone needs at your house. We need to find a way to make this more of a neighborhood thing and get the word out."
The committee also encouraged ham radio operators to take FEMA courses specially designed for them.
Joplin trip update
Last month, the committee expressed an interest in getting a group of Joplin, Mo., emergency responders to answer questions about disaster readiness. Joplin was the site of one of the most damaging tornadoes in American history in 2011, when an EF5 tornado caused 158 deaths and $2.8 billion in damage.
Fellenzer said that Joplin has agreed to field questions over a video conference call.
"We've been trying desperately to hook up with the police, fire or mayor in Joplin -- anyone who was involved in the tornado of 2011," Fellenzer said. "My latest update on this is that we are going to set up a Skype conference call rather than try to physically go to Joplin."
The conference call will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, May 6, at City Hall. There will be limited seating, so Fellenzer said he will leave it up to the mayor to prepare a guest list.
General News on 04/27/2016