 HOMELAND
SECURITY PANEL MEETS
C-T, January 31, 2012
C-T Photo / Drew Van Dyke
CAPTION: Several prominent area officials met in a homeland security-based meeting
on Monday afternoon, January 23, in one of the conference rooms in the
Chillicothe Comfort Inn and Suites, at the south end of town.
Representatives from 15 surrounding counties were on-hand last week, for a
meeting of the Regional Homeland Security Oversight Committee, held within
a conference room at Comfort Inn and Suites in Chillicothe.
Chairman William (Bill) Brinton Jr. oversaw the meeting. Brinton is the
director of the Buchanan County Emergency Management Agency / Region H
Hazmat team. Also in attendance for the meeting were Brett Hendrix (Grant Specialist,
Missouri Department of Public Safety), Sherril Gladney (Mutual Aid
Coordinator, Missouri Dept. of Public Safety Division of Fire Safety),
Steve Cheavens (Planner/Area H Coordinator, Missouri Dept. of Public
Safety), Mike Pickerel (Emergency Human Services Planner, Missouri
Emergency Management Agency), Joni Botkins (Grant Program Specialist,
Missouri Department of Public Safety Office of Homeland Security Grants
and Training, Local and State Assistance), and Roarke Holzschuh (State
On-Scene Coordinator, Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources Environmental
Service Program out of the Kansas City Regional Office).
Multiple Chillicothe and Livingston County service officials also
attended the meeting. Brinton said that the meeting was one of their quarterly affairs. The
group meets four times per year to discuss the progress of projects they
are currently involved within financially. "When you have a project, you have two or three years to
do them," he said. "We discussed where we are on
stuff." An item he specifically mentioned was the purchase of new radios for the
Livingston County Sheriff's Department. "We have bought a lot of radios in
North Central Missouri. We've spent well over $1 million," he said.
"In the past, we've had hundreds of thousands of dollars [to work with,
annually]," Brinton said. He emphasized that the number of projects the
Oversight Committee is able to take on has decreased dramatically, as
their funding was cut from $950,000 their first year of implementation, to
$500,000 the next, and down to $100,000 last year. Brinton said that it is
expected that the group will be able to spend $50,000 this year. The cuts
have been made in large part due to the approximately $1 billion in recent
federal homeland security budget cuts. "We're not really sure what the
future is," Brinton said.
The group plans for their second meeting of the year to take place in
either early March or April. Said meeting will take place in
Maryville and will be a budget approval meeting. "We had a great
time," Brinton said of his Chillicothe experience. "We
appreciated the hospitality of everyone in Livingston
County." |
