The Signal Hill City Council approved a contract with a consulting firm on Tuesday, Jan. 14 to update the City’s plans for disasters, as well as clarify the flow of information within the City during emergencies.
The City’s Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) outlines how Signal Hill will respond to natural and man-made disasters. It was last updated in 2017.
The chosen firm will also create a Crisis Communications Annex, a document that supplements the EOP by providing guidelines for managing internal and external communication during emergencies.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in disasters and subsequent emergency activation and response in both Signal Hill and the region,” said Rebecca Lopez, Emergency Management Coordinator for Signal Hill. “In just the previous five years, there have been emergency declarations for COVID-19, civil unrest, for rain storms and, of course, the current wildfire tragedy that is affecting the LA region at this time […] Time is of the essence when disaster strikes, so the ability to have a ready-to-go plan is invaluable.”
After five firms submitted proposals for this project, Tandem Solutions was selected by a planning committee. City staff said Tandem Solutions stood out because of its staff members’ experience working on similar projects for other municipalities, including a crisis communication plan for the City of Long Beach.
Tandem Solutions is expected to immediately start working on the updates to the EOP and finish by June 30.
The $40,000 contract with Tandem Solutions will be funded by a federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security. This Emergency Management Performance Grant is given to state and local governments agencies in charge of managing emergencies.
The council was originally going to vote on a $35,000 contract for the same project, but opted to spend an additional $5,000 for Tandem Solutions to conduct a “tabletop exercise,” a simulated disaster scenario that would test the City of Signal Hill’s emergency response.
