The Connoquenessing Valley Regional Emergency Management Agency (EMA) was founded on October, 15th 2018 by the municipalities of Connoquenessing Borough, Evans City Borough and Connoquenessing Township of Butler County, Pennsylvania. The agency has been established to oversee the responsibilities of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Services code on behalf of these municipalities and others that join us in this important effort for our region. As we begin this cooperative effort, we will be reaching out to partners in public safety as well as our residents and local businesses to prepare our region for times of emergency and disaster.
On this, our initial temporary
website, you will find information on the region’s emergency management
program, starting with the definition of this important function of your local
government:
“Emergency management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.”
The Connoquenessing Valley Regional
Emergency Management Agency exists to serve our community within this
role. We are not simply a “response” agency that reacts to an
emergency however, we first prepare for the time when our community
needs us by working together with the community ahead of time. This is
done by following the vision and mission of emergency management, as promoted
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA):
Vision:
“Emergency management seeks to promote safer, less vulnerable communities with the capacity to cope with hazards and disasters.”
Mission:
“Emergency management protects communities by coordinating and
integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the
capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from
threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made
disasters.”
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Agency Activation
Activation of the Connoquenessing Valley
Regional Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and activation of the Emergency
Operations Center (EOC), as needed, may be requested by the elected officials
of one or more participating municipalities or their designated public safety
officials, such as the local police chief or fire chief, for an unmet need or
other public safety matter. The EMC may also activate the EMA and EOC, as
needed, upon directly learning of a need or via notification by elected and/or designated
public safety officials of one or more of any participating municipality.
Costs incurred by the EMA during activation will be shared between all
participating municipalities involved in the activation, per the
intergovernmental agreement (agreement) between the participating
municipalities. If only a single participating municipality activates the
EMA, that municipality is then solely responsible for the costs incurred during
the activation, per the agreement.
Community Participation
Residents and businesses in our region also
have a role in community emergency preparedness. Here are some simple
things you can do to prepare:
-
Reduce hazards in
and around your home or business
-
Develop a
preparedness plan
-
Assemble emergency
supplies
-
Monitor emergency
alerts
-
Have quick access
to emergency numbers and your community’s emergency notification systems
-
Volunteer with an
established organization
-
Take training in
emergency response
At the bottom of this page you will find
links to valuable resources that you can use to prepare your home or business
for emergencies along with links to other organizations &
information. Please take some time to take advantage of these free
resources. In addition, if you are looking for a way to get “plugged-in”
to a local volunteer organization, please see our “Volunteers Needed”
section below for information.
Working with you to prepare,
Daniel R. Cox, Director and Emergency Management Coordinator
Full
website coming soon!
Participating Municipalities
-
Connoquenessing Borough
-
Connoquenessing
Township
-
Evans City Borough
Volunteers Needed
Like the majority of fire departments in
Pennsylvania, your local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is
staffed by volunteers, including the region’s Emergency Management Coordinator
(EMC). The EMC is an individual recommended by local government officials
and appointed by the governor to manage the region’s emergency management
program. To accomplish this, the EMC works with local residents,
businesses, organizations and multiple government resources to plan and prepare
for emergencies alongside other volunteers of the agency that each bring their
own skills and ideas to the effort.
To accomplish our mission we need
resources, and the PRIMARY resource we need is HUMAN ones… people from the
community that will invest their time to make their community safer. If
you can spend even one evening or day a month to work with us or one of our
partner organizations, we can serve together in preparation to lend a hand to
our neighbors in their time of need.
Please reach out to us by calling the
Connoquenessing Borough office (website link above) if you would like to join
us in this important effort. Your local participating municipality can
also put you in touch with the agency. Thank YOU!
Agency Leadership and Operations
Oversight of the Connoquenessing Valley
Regional EMA is the responsibility of the agency’s Executive Committee. A
primary and alternate elected official from each participating municipality is
appointed to serve on the Executive Committee with each municipality having a
single representative “active” on the committee for the purposes of voting on
agency business. The Executive Committee elects a Chair, Vice Chair and
Secretary from among its members to oversee agency business.
Day to day agency operations is managed by
the agency’s Director who also serves as the Emergency Management Coordinator
(EMC) on behalf of the agency and its participating municipalities. The
Executive Committee Chair works closely with the Director as well to support
agency operations as needed. In addition to the Director, the Executive
Committee appoints five (5) Deputy Emergency Management Coordinators to support
the agency. These Deputy EMCs train to the same level as the EMC so that
the agency has adequate personnel to support the operation of the agency’s
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for extended periods of time or in the
absence of the EMC. The Director and EMC may also recruit and train
Emergency Management Specialists that wish to volunteer their time with the
agency to prepare for emergencies and disasters. These Specialists may be
skilled in communications, emergency response, finance, construction, public
relations, architecture, human resources or many other skill sets that can
greatly support the efforts of the agency to prepare for and respond to
emergencies and disasters.
Below is the current listing of these
dedicated officials that give of their time to serve our community. As
mentioned above, if you are interested in working with us, please reach out
through the Connoquenessing Borough office or your local participating
municipality and ask to be put in touch with one of the representatives listed
below.
Executive Committee:
Chair:
Dave Hilliard - Connoquenessing Borough, primary member
Vice Chair: Ed Rupert - Connoquenessing Township, primary member
Secretary:
Kim Armstrong - Evans City Borough, primary member
Member:
Mary Grace Ruediger - Connoquenessing Borough, alternate member
Member:
Terry Steinheiser - Connoquenessing Township, alternate member
Member:
Matt Otto - Evans City Borough, alternate member
Agency Administration and Staff:
Director and EMC: Daniel R. Cox
Deputy EMC: Vacant - Actively
Recruiting
Deputy EMC: Vacant - Actively
Recruiting
Deputy EMC: Vacant - Actively
Recruiting
Deputy EMC: Vacant - Actively
Recruiting
Deputy EMC: Vacant - Actively
Recruiting
Please Click HERE
to read the JOB DESCRIPTION for our open “Deputy EMC” positions. If interested, please leave a message at the
Connoquenessing Borough office or
apply via our Facebook
page.
Local Partner Organizations
-
Butler Ambulance Service
- Butler County Emergency Services (County EMA &
9-1-1 Center)
-
Connoquenessing
Volunteer Fire Company
-
Evans
City Area Volunteer Fire Department
-
Evans City - Seven Fields Regional Police Department
- Harmony
EMS
- National Weather Service, Pittsburgh
-
Pennsylvania State Police - Troop D
Links & Information
-
“Ready PA“
- Pennsylvania Emergency Preparedness
-
“Ready.gov“
- Department of Homeland Security Disaster Preparedness
- Pennsylvania
Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)
-
Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
-
Kids Weather Safety Fact Sheet
Connoquenessing Valley Regional Emergency Management Agency
228 Constitution Avenue - P.O. BOX 91 - Connoquenessing, PA 16027-0091