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County Administrator's Report 10. 6.

BCC Regular Meeting

Budget & Finance Consent

Meeting Date:	02/06/2020
Issue: Memorandum of Understanding Between the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Escambia County for the County's Mobile Command Vehicle
From:	JOHN DOSH
Department:	Public Safety
CAO Approval:

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation Concerning the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Escambia County - John Dosh, Interim Public Safety Director

That the Board take the following action concerning the Memorandum of Understanding between the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Escambia County:

A. Approve the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Between the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and Escambia County, establishing the framework from which FDEM may request and utilize the Escambia County mobile command vehicle in support of their mission to prepare for and respond to other states of emergency and local states of emergency for FDEM's provision of incident command support to disaster impacted communities; and

B. Authorize the Chairman or Vice Chairman to execute the MOU.

BACKGROUND:

In January 2019, the Florida Governor put a new administration in place to manage the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). With this new administration came the decision to dispose of the existing State mobile command vehicle and seek out mutual aid resources around the State that could backfill the loss of this mobile command vehicle resource. Knowing the capabilities and capacity of Escambia County’s mobile command vehicle and staff, FDEM requested the opportunity to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the potential use of the County’s mobile command vehicle as a command and coordination platform from which FDEM could provide disaster support to disaster impacted local communities and other states.

The MOU provides a framework, through the Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement (SMAA), from which FDEM may request and utilize Escambia County’s mobile command vehicle to meet their statutory requirements as identified in Chapter 252 Florida Statutes. A few primary key factors include that the County will:

Maintain the option to fulfill or deny the FDEM request for the use of the mobile command vehicle should there be a potential need for the vehicle or staff locally.
Deploy County Emergency Management staff operators with the vehicle and whereby the County will maintain full control over the vehicle at all times.
Be reimbursed by the State for the use of the vehicle and staff time as identified within the MOU.

The Manager of the County Division of Emergency Management Manager and Interim Public Safety Director are in full support of this MOU. Emergency Management operations around the State and around the nation are built upon the premise of communities helping communities during times of disasters, partnerships that leverage limited resources for maximum benefit to the communities in need. Escambia County Emergency Management believes that this MOU provides benefit to the County by simply doing our part in the concept of Emergency Management by making a resource available to a partner organization, at a reasonable reimbursement rate, with the expectations that the State and other communities will inevitably be assisting Escambia County in a future disaster event impacting our community.

BUDGETARY IMPACT:

N/A

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF:

Kristin Hual, Senior Assistant County Attorney, has reviewed the MOU and approved it as to form and legal sufficiency.

PERSONNEL:

Implementation of this MOU will be coordinated with existing Division of Emergency Management staff.

POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION:

Board of County Commissioners' Policies require Board approval for MOUs.

IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION:

Implementation of this MOU will be coordinated between Escambia Division of Emergency Management staff and the State of Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Attachments
MOU Between FDEM and Escambia County
Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement