City recognizes heroic police officers and approves new summer events
PASO ROBLES — A new 2024 Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) was adopted unanimously by City Council on Tuesday, April 16. The EOP (formerly known as the Emergency Response Plan) contains all Paso Robles city incident management organization, compliance with relevant legal statutes, and other relevant guidelines.
Fire Chief Jonathan Stornetta presented the EOP to council Tuesday night.
The EOP outlines a structured approach to managing various types of incidents, emergencies, and crises within the city. It establishes an incident management organization responsible for coordinating responses, maintaining situational awareness, facilitating communication between government levels, ensuring continuity of government functions, and engaging with public information sources.
The plan also defines operational concepts for managing incidents of different magnitudes, from emergencies to catastrophes, within Paso Robles. It aims to provide a flexible framework for planning and responding to diverse hazards such as earthquakes, hazardous materials incidents, mass casualties, civil disturbances, terrorist events, wildfires, adverse weather, utility disruptions, and public health issues. By addressing these aspects, the EOP aims to enhance preparedness and resilience in Paso Robles by ensuring effective coordination and response to a wide range of potential threats and emergencies.
The EOP is required for the city to remain compliant with the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the Incident Command System (ICS), the National Response Framework (NRF), and the National Preparedness Guidelines.
Also included in the EOP is a variation of threats to our city based on a hazard analysis.
Potential hazards are identified as:
Major earthquake
Hazardous materials
Multiple casualty incidents
Transportation
Fire
Civil disturbance — terrorism — active shooter
Adverse weather events
Utility disruption
Infectious disease response
San Luis Obispo County Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Response Plan
The meeting began with City Manager Ty Lewis presenting a life-saving medal to two Paso Robles Police officers. Officers Josh Lewis and Alex Hascall were recognized for their heroic actions in saving a suicidal man from jumping off the Niblick Bridge in late March.
Council also approved two new events coming to the city this summer — the Horseless Carriage Club of America Show and Shine, and the Summer Reading Program Launch Party.
The Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association is sponsoring the “Show and Shine” event coming to Paso Robles City Park on Tuesday, May 7, from 12 to 4 p.m. The event will give the community an opportunity to see more than 40 horseless carriages and vehicles manufactured prior to 1916.
The Summer Reading Program Launch Party, presented by the Paso Robles City Library, is coming to City Park on Saturday, June 15, from 1 to 3 p.m. Attendees will
be able to participate in hands-on craft projects and enjoy entertainment from a magician and face
painting with free snacks available.
The Summer Reading Program provides children and adults a 10-hour free reading beginning June 10 and concluding Aug. 10. Every participant who completes the program will win a prize. Participants can read any book in any format they choose, including audiobooks. In the past, the program has seen 700 participants. The library expects that number to be doubled this summer because in an effort to affect food insecurity, three times per week, students participating in the program and their caregivers will have access to a free lunch available at either the Library, Oak Park, or Centennial Park.
Council then revisited the Fiscal Years (FY) 2024-2025 and FY 2025-2026 city budget, which now incorporates the city goals that were approved at the March 19 meeting. Since February, the city has held several community discussions to discuss the budget and city goals.
Council unanimously approved the receive the budget overview report from staff with a separate motion to modify the FY 2023-2024 budget with the following allocations: General Fund ($225,000), ARPA Fund ($444,000), and Airport Fund ($96,000).
The budget review can be viewed in its entirety here pub-pasorobles.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=3522
The next Paso Robles City Council meeting is scheduled for May 7 at 6:30 p.m.
