Emergency Management Office

UCEMA HISTORY:

The Federal Civil Defense Act was passed in 1950 and became Public Law 81-920 which mandated Congress assist the States in protecting the population from military attack by training and mitigation on the local level.

In 1974 Public Law 93-288, known as The Disaster Relief Act of 1974, was passed in Congress to assist the States in dealing with natural and man made disasters. This law mandated States to plan for disasters in addition to attack.

In 1987 Iowa Chapter 29C became effective which mandated that an Emergency Management Division, under the auspices of Public Defense, be established in Iowa at the State level and to be under the governor’s direction.

Iowa Code 29C also mandated Local Emergency Management Agencies be established, to be governed by a Commission, and to appoint an Emergency Coordinator for each jurisdiction. A jurisdiction was described as each county in the beginning. The Commission is composed of the mayor of each city, Chairman of county board of supervisors and the sheriff (or their designee) with the coordinator serving as the secretary.

Late in 1988, the Iowa Emergency Management Division made it a priority to write and certify a Multi-Hazard Emergency Operations Plan in each jurisdiction. At that time a state representative, Bob Stecker, was assigned to Union County to serve as a counselor and to help make the Plan happen. Lacking a commission, the obligation of organization fell on the shoulders of the Board of Supervisors, who passed the unfunded mandate to the sheriff. Sheriff John Coulter, looking for assistance to write such a plan, contacted Lt. Roger Nurnberg at the Creston Fire Department, whom he knew had assisted former Fire Chief Ray Shrimpton in writing a similar plan for the City of Creston after an F5 tornado demolished Belmond, Iowa in 1966. Over the course of the next year and a half Sheriff Coulter and Lt. Nurnberg strived to assemble the first Union County Multi-Hazard Plan.

On January 26, 1990 a “Disaster Organization” meeting was called by Sheriff Coulter and Lt. Nurnberg, who was Creston Fire Department Training Officer. The meeting was assembled for the purpose of expounding on the requirements of Iowa Code 29C relating to planning and preparing for potential disasters in Union County. In attendance were Mary Jane Weisshaar, Board of Supervisors Chairperson; Terry Donahue, Creston Mayor; Les Bascom, Union County Finance Officer; Joe Parker, City of Creston Finance Officer and Tom Myers, City of Creston Public Works Director.

Another meeting was called on February 21, 1990, to meet with Mr. Stecker representing the Iowa Office of Disaster Services for the purpose of further explaining the requirements of the Iowa Code 29C. Thirteen people were present representing many departments of the county and cities. This meeting laid the ground work for establishing an Emergency Management Agency in Union County. The first Multi-Hazard Emergency Operations Plan was adopted by the Union County Board of Supervisors’ Resolution on September 17, 1990.

It was not until July 23, 1996, that an organizational meeting was assembled at the Creston City Hall for the purpose of adopting by-laws and establishing the offices of Chair and Vice Chair. The representatives in attendance were Peggy Clark (Afton), Duane Adamson (Cromwell), Larry Wynn (Creston), Doug Wilson (Kent), Rick Lilly (Shannon City), Carol McGuire (Thayer), and JoAnn Bradley (Union county board of Supervisors). JoAnn Bradley was elected Chair and Larry Wynn Vice Chair. “In order to meet eligibility requirements and comply with federal guidelines for grant funds”, Roger Nurnberg, who by now was Creston’s Fire Chief, was appointed Acting Coordinator, a temporary position to get things started.  At the following meeting on September 24, 1996, Mr. Nurnberg was appointed Union County’s first Coordinator.

The Coordinator duties were incorporated into those of the Creston Fire Chief until the position became unmanageable and the Commission elected to make the position full-time during the Fall of 1998. The Board of Supervisors approached the Emergency Management Commission to incorporate the unfunded position of E911 Coordinator into the duties of the Emergency Coordinator. The position was phased in over a two year period.

On June 30, 2000, Mr. Nurnberg retired from the Creston Fire Department and assumed the full-time duties of the Emergency Coordinator and E911 Coordinator for Union County.