I have some "Great News". By a 5-2 vote of the Shores Service Corp Board of Directors, enactment of a hurricane preparedness committee was approved. A letter will be sent by Jerry Zinn, President of the St. Augustine Shores Service Corp, to all Condominium Boards.
We will be hosting a workshop within the next 2 weeks and expect at least 2 representatives of all associations to be there in order to assess specific needs of each association and incorporating these needs into a Shores Master Plan. This workshop will be hosted by The Conquistador Advocates, SASCA (St. Augustine Shores Civic Advocates) as well as the St. Augustine Service Corp. Stay tuned for further news.
One of the first questions that may come to mind is; Why does our community need to be a part of the master plan? The answers to this question are both simple and complex!
The Condominium Association's Role
Under the Condominium Act, the role of the condominium association is to operate the condominium for the health, safety, comfort, and general welfare of the unit owners. Along with the statutory powers granted to the board of directors is the implied responsibility to protect their employees, equipment, supplies, facilities, and unit owners from disaster events that threaten them.
Toward this end, an emergency/disaster response and recovery plan is warranted. The plan should contain the procedures and provisions that the association would rely upon to protect employees, unit owners, and other resources during disaster/emergency situations.
The plan will tell how the association will accomplish the necessary actions to protect employees, unit owners, equipment, supplies, property, and facilities. It should include emergency telephone numbers, call down rosters, resources listings, maps, and charts, etc. The plan should include a step-by-step procedures for cooperation with local governmental officials (i.e., emergency management officials) to
(1) notify/warn all affected persons,
(2) evacuate affected persons from association facilities,
(3) provide adequate shelter on site or in public shelter (if approved by emergency management officials),
(4) obtain mutual aid from other associations, businesses, etc.,
(5) report situations and request assistance from local emergency management officials,
(6) communicate with employees and personnel who are working at different facilities.
The reasons for a condo association plan are quite simple. The reason to become a part of the Shore's master plan become more complex.
The Shores Service Corp Role
As many of you remember, the 2004 hurricane season caught many of us by surprise. Who would have expected 3 named storms to affect us? Most of the Shores Community lost power for over 3 days and many of the roadways were impassable. Luckily, we never lost power.
As you may not be aware, it was the Shores Service Corp that initiated tree removal for the main roads that we all travel. Your question may be, Why didn't the county do it? The answer is simple, they did not have the available resources. Our Service Corp spent over $50,000 in order to clear these roads.
As was stated above, a solid hurricane plan needs the approval of our county emergency management department. It is more beneficial, in the counties opinion that each condo Board follow the necessary procedures to enact their own plan and that it be incorporated into a master plan. The reason, By the counties own admission, "It could be days before they could respond to everyones needs"
The Shores plan will implement the Vial of Life Program. This program would be sponsored with the help of local businesses.
What is the Vial of Life?
The Vial of Life or Vial of L.I.F.E. (Lifesaving Information For Emergencies) is a program which allows individuals to provide medical information in advance that can be used by emergency personnel in the case of an emergency.
Our plan also includes the implementation of a CERT Team. Our hope is to have 2 representatives from each condo community as well as approximately 12 to 15 sector captains trained and assigned to various sectors in the shores. These individuals would be responsible for communicating and receiving information that we would utilize in case of an emergency. An example would be; recruiting individuals in our community with 4 wheel drive transportation, nurses, doctors, CPR certified individuals, roofers, plumbers, tree removal, etc, as well as assessing specific needs within their sectors.
What is a CERT Team?
A Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), sometimes known as a Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT), or Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET), is a group of volunteer emergency workers who have received basic training in disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team operations.
They are designed to act as an auxiliary to existing emergency responders in the event of a major disaster and are trained with the assistance of St. John's County Emergency Management.
Assessing Needs
Whether you live in a condominium or a private home, all of the needs are the same. We will be hosting workshops with local county leaders, emergency management, as well as Publix, Walgreens and the local churches in order to identify the resources available to assist us before, during and after a storm. Some of these meetings will be for committee purposes and others will be open to the general public
By combining all of our efforts a lot more can be accomplished. More community involvement means better prepared residents and less cost before, during and after the storm!
The Conquistador Advocates need you all to come to The Conquistador Board Meeting at 7:00pm on Tuesday the 17th of June in order to show support for a Hurricane plan for the Conquistadors. See you all then.