Because of the existing and increasing possibility
of the occurrence of disasters of unprecedented size and destruction
from fire, flood, hurricane, tropical storm or other natural causes
and in order to ensure that preparations of this City will be adequate
to deal with such disasters and generally to provide for the common
defense and to protect the public peace, health and safety and to
preserve the lives and property of the residents of this City, it
is hereby found and declared to be necessary to create a Municipal
Emergency Management Agency, to provide for the rendering of mutual
aid to other cities within the State of New Jersey and adjoining states
and to cooperate with the state government with respect to carrying
out emergency functions and to create and test an emergency operations
plan for all divisions of City government in the event of one of the
aforementioned disasters.
The Mayor of this community shall be responsible
for the appointment of a qualified coordinator of this bureau pursuant
to state and federal guidelines as of the date of his appointment.
It shall be the responsibility of the Director to appoint a Deputy
Coordinator and staff as may be needed to effectively operate this
organization. It is the responsibility of the staff, under the direction
of the Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator, to create and test the
emergency operations plan and to be prepared to activate it whenever
necessary.
It shall be the responsibility of this organization
to carry out and enforce such orders, rules and regulations, as issued
by the Mayor or the chain of command as outlined by the emergency
operations plan, under the authority of this chapter. The organization
shall have available for inspection all such orders and rules and
regulations made by the Mayor or the chain of command or under their
authority.
The organization shall have a fully equipped
emergency operations center which shall be ready to coordinate all
City functions in the event of a disaster. It shall also have an alternate
operations center planned in the event that the first shall be damaged
or unusable.