PC allocates funds for mass casualty readiness

A $28,000 allocation from the St. Mary Parish Council will help provide equipment for first responders to deal with mass casualty events.
The council agreed to provide the funds to the parish fire association after hearing from Franklin Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Hildreth Wednesday.
Hildreth referred to the Feb. 14 accident on U.S. 90 east of Centerville involving a school bus and SUV that resulted in four fatalities. Those who died were traveling in the SUV and passengers in the bus, Lafayette high school athletes going to a game in Berwick, sustained moderate to minor injuries.
“We were faced with one of the most horrific incidents that anyone could ever have to go to,” he said.
All fire departments in the parish involved in the emergency response to the accident concluded afterward that resources were lacking, he said.
“When we face another (such incident) we want it to be a better response,” Hildreth said, stressing that it would be “when not if.”
He added that the association has since acted upon improvements in communications, 911 dispatch, training and added equipment when budgets allowed.
Funds are now needed to provide training with buses and purchase traffic cones and signage as well as back boards and head boards.
The equipment and training will enable responders to deal with all kinds of incidents, he said, including school transportation accidents, natural disasters, rail accidents and mass shootings.
“We have put a lot of planning and research and a lot of thought into this,” he said. “We would like to move with this to get this done as quickly as we can into the next school year.”
The council agenda was expanded and an allocation from the three-fourths percent sales tax partially dedicated to public safety was approved.
In other business Wednesday the council:
—Approved an engagement letter with the Pitts and Matte accounting firm to provide auditing services for the next fiscal year. An effort by Councilman Tim Tregle to table the matter until legal counsel can draft an ordinance requiring request for proposals on professional services failed.
—Adopted an ordinance on a zoning map amendment at 932 Irish Bend Road, Franklin, from single family residential to neighborhood commercial for operation of a convenience store. A public hearing on the ordinance will be called at 5:30 p.m.
—Passed resolutions on a grant agreement with the state for improvements on Centerville Bridge Approach Road; endorsement of participation in the Enterprise Zone program by Omni Energy Services Corp., and the Quality Jobs program by Xpress Urgent Care; a change order on the generator project at the Law Enforcement Center; a software license agreement and a software escrow agreement with enCodePlus LLC to set up online access and use of the Unified Development Code; a cooperative endeavor agreement with Graigo Code Consultants LLC to provide building permit plan review services; and an audit firm engagement letter for 2014-2015 fiscal year.
—Appointed Rosa Crosby to Recreation District 5, Clegg Caffery to the Golf Course Commission, Tomas Birriel and Barton Blanco to Hospital Service District 2 and Warren Span to Recreation District 4.