Ready Southeast provisions 10 caches with preparedness supplies

The Southeast Neighbors board heard a report from the preparedness committee. Ready Southeast ICS Coordinator Don Metheny:

[00:00:07] Don Metheny (Ready Southeast): Thank you all for being here tonight (again), and I wanted to give a short report from the preparedness committee, if that’s okay.

[00:00:14] Dennis Hebert (Southeast Neighbors co-chair): Yes, please do.

[00:00:15] Don Metheny: We just completed our emergency supply cache matching grant with the city. We finished that in June and so our citizens now are much better equipped to respond to a disaster. We purchased key emergency response equipment and put them in secure boxes.

[00:00:33] And those are hosted around 10 sites around the neighborhood, so that if we have a disaster, we can quickly get to those caches of supplies and use them as needed. And several people have access to the boxes—the community leaders who are active in preparedness. And so this new capacity demonstrates our commitment to all areas of the neighborhood and an inclusive culture of preparedness.

[00:00:57] We believe that the Southeast neighborhood has become an inspiration and a model for the other neighborhoods in the city striving to be better prepared for disaster. The city grant was for nearly $5,000, just $10 short, and we spent that money and matched it with 217 volunteer hours donated by 44 volunteers, which shows the commitment of the people in our neighborhood to preparedness.

[00:01:23] The neighborhood continues to hold monthly radio drills, and one of our hams participates in the weekly Eugene Emergency Communications Network. And this provides the Southeast Neighbors with the means to communicate via radio in a disaster with each other and with the City of Eugene Emergency Operations Center. Thank you. Any questions?

[00:01:46] Dennis Hebert: Hey, thanks a lot, Don. I guess my question is, I don’t know whether you would make it public or not, but is there a map somewhere where these caches are located at?

[00:01:54] Don Metheny: Yeah. We would not make that public. We’re providing those maps to our members who would need them. The reason we’re not making it public is just, they would be a target for theft, maybe.

[00:02:04] Dennis Hebert: Right. Yep. I understand that. That’s what I was thinking.

[00:02:07] John Q: The group also discussed hazardous fuels.

[00:02:11] City Councilor Matt Keating: A couple of you have asked questions about where we’re at on a vegetation management suspension. Neither the city manager nor I are aware of any vegetation management suspension of any program. So I’ve got that in front of the Public Works director for clarification.

[00:02:32] Dennis Hebert: I was just going to say, why don’t you call and talk to the person that answers the phone and say, ‘Hi, I’d like to report an overgrown lot on the corner,’ because that’s exactly how I stated it. And this was a lot that is on the corner that is over three feet tall. And she said, ‘Well, I’m sorry. Our vegetation program is suspended,’ And this buddy of mine called about a different location and he got the same answer. I couldn’t believe it. So where’s the communication breakdown on this thing?

[00:03:01] City Councilor Matt Keating: I appreciate that. And that’s why it’s in front of the Public Works director right now and (Okay, great). Yeah.

[00:03:06] When I brought it up to the city manager, the two of us were scratching our head as to why you were informed that the program was suspended or paused when the two of us weren’t aware of that.

[00:03:16] John Q: Southeast Neighbors look to trim up abundant vegetation and conduct practice drills using their new emergency caches. Learn more about preparedness from your neighborhood association.