The purpose of this plan is to designate the
responsible public officers, formulate the basic procedures and provide
guidance for coordinated action in rendering assistance to the citizens
within the City of Ithaca in the event of a disaster or emergency
which exceeds the dimensions of any individual City Department's current
mandate for response. This plan is not intended to replace any current
plan, but rather to serve as a supplement to any such current plan.
It is recognized that this plan may require adjustments and amendments,
and that the responsible public officials, location of emergency operations
and similar decisions will vary depending on the nature of the emergency.
The Common Council shall have the primary responsibility
to see that everything possible is done to prepare for any disaster
and to provide for the safety and security of the community during
a disaster.
[Amended 5-1-1996 by Ord. No. 96-6; 11-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
The emergency operations center for the city
will be in the Central Fire Station unless the City Manager declares
otherwise. Once the City Manager or next city officer in line has
declared that an emergency exists, the emergency operations center
will be staffed on a twenty-four-hour basis until the declared emergency
subsides. The emergency operations center will forward all warnings,
directives, information, etc., to various local departments, as appropriate.
This will be done through the use of department representatives, telephones
(located in the emergency operations center), radios in the Police,
Fire, Highway and Civil Defense Departments and in the offices of
cooperating agencies. Each member assigned to the emergency operations
center will be familiar with this plan, particularly with the section
pertaining to each responsible person's service duties.
[Amended 11-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
The City Manager, with the assistance of the
Fire Chief, Police Chief and/or Superintendent of Public Works, functioning
either at the emergency operations center or an appropriate designated
alternative site, depending on the nature of the emergency, are responsible
for the maintenance and availability of records, documents, plans
and other materials required to discharge their and others' functions
during an emergency.
Once an emergency has been declared, designated
personnel will assemble as soon as possible at the emergency operations
center. In order to cope with the effects of an emergency, appropriate
steps will be taken at the emergency operations center to mobilize
fully the available personnel, resources, facilities, supplies and
materials in the City of Ithaca according to the guidelines set forth
in this plan, or such other plans or procedures as may already exist
within individual responsibilities for the particular type of emergency
requiring response and management.
A. The City Manager or the designated Emergency Coordinator
is responsible for notification and declaration of an emergency or
disaster.
[Amended 11-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
B. Each department head in the City of Ithaca is responsible
for assuring maximum effectiveness and utilization of all personnel
and equipment of the department to accomplish the city's responsibilities.
Each department head will retain control of the assigned department
and implement orders received from the emergency operations center.
C. The City of Ithaca will seek the cooperation and aid
of any or all surrounding communities in the event of an emergency
or disaster affecting surrounding areas or of such magnitude that
mutual aid is necessary. Arrangements for mutual aid should be made
prior to any emergency or disaster.
D. The City of Ithaca should contact the County Civil
Defense Office regarding any major emergency or disaster situation.
Civil defense assistance should be requested when local or mutual
aid resources are exhausted. All requests for county civil defense
assistance of any nature by any department will be approved by the
City Manager and will be made to the County Director of Civil Defense
by direct phone contact or by civil defense radio network.
[Amended 11-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
E. Military assistance requests will be made by the City
Manager of the City of Ithaca to the County Administrator and the
Chair of the County Board, who will forward the request to the Tompkins
County Civil Defense Office, which will forward it to the State Natural
Disaster Commission.
[Amended 11-3-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-09]
F. The American Red Cross is recognized as the agency
responsible for mass care to persons immediately following a disaster.
Local Red Cross chapters can extend natural disaster relief assistance
to individuals and families, and the Red Cross can assume administrative
and financial responsibility in providing such assistance. The American
National Red Cross has been assigned this responsibility by the Congress
of the United States. The Red Cross chapter responsible for the City
of Ithaca is the Tompkins County Chapter of the American Red Cross,
located at 201 West Clinton Street, in the City of Ithaca, N.Y., telephone
number 273-1900; homeless hot-line: 273-9177.
It is expected that this plan will be updated
and supplemented as necessary to prepare for any disaster or major
emergency.