Notice of Public Hearing

Posted Wednesday, April 24, 2013 1:00 pm

ORDINANCE COMMITTEE

NOTICE OF

PUBLIC HEARING

A Public Hearing on the following proposed Ordinance will be held before the Ordinance Committee on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 6:00 p.m., City Council Chambers, 869 Park Avenue, Cranston, R.I. pursuant to Section 3.12 of the Charter.

A complete copy of the Ordinance is available for public review at the City Clerk’s Office, and the Cranston Central Library and the City website cranstonri.com under calendar by clicking on the meeting date.

“Individuals requesting interpreter services for the hearing impaired must notify the City Clerk’s Office at 461-1000 ext. 3197 seventy-two (72) hours in advance of the hearing date.”

Paul H. Archetto, Chair Maria Medeiros Wall, JD

Ordinance Committee City Clerk

PROPOSED ORDINANCE

NO. 4-13-03 IN AMENDMENT OF TITLE, OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CRANSTON, 2013, ENTITLED “HEALTH AND SAFETY”

(Emergency Management Commission)

It is ordained by the City Council of the City of Cranston as follows:

Section 1. Title 8, entitled “Health and Safety” is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

Section 8.51 Emergency Management Commission

8.51.010 Creation. There is hereby created within the City of Cranston an Emergency Management Commission to carry out the duties and responsibilities set forth in Rhode Island General Laws Section 30–15–12.

8.51.020 Membership. The members of this Commission shall include each member of the Cranston City Council, the Mayor of the City, the Chief of Police, the Chief of the Fire Department.

8.51.030 Duties of the Commission. It shall be the duty of the commission to advise the Mayor on all matters pertaining to disaster preparedness. In providing advice to the Mayor, the commission shall, among other matters reasonably related to their authority, do the following:

(1) Establish a regular meeting schedule and form subcommittees as may be appropriate;

(2) Review emergency management plans and other matters as may be acted upon or otherwise provided for in this ordinance;

(3) Establish priorities and goals on emergency management matters on an annual basis;

(4) Study emergency management plans in conjunction with the Mayor, and otherwise conduct such other studies as may be deemed appropriate;

(5) Review the coordination of the City’s emergency management programs with appropriate authorized agencies and conduct studies on the programs as may be necessary;

(6) Review the plans and operations of the various Departments and agencies of the City in disaster preparedness in conjunction with the Mayor as required or necessary; and

8.51.040 Purposes of the Commission. – The purposes of this Commission are:

(1) To reduce vulnerability of people of Cranston to damage, injury, and loss of life and property resulting from natural or man-made catastrophes, riots, or hostile military or paramilitary action or acts of bioterrorism;

(2) To prepare for prompt and efficient rescue, care, and treatment of persons victimized or threatened by disaster;

(3) To provide a setting conducive to the rapid and orderly start of restoration and rehabilitation of persons and property affected by disasters;

(4) To clarify and strengthen the roles of the Cranston City government in prevention of, preparation for, and response to and recovery from disasters;

(5) To authorize and provide for cooperation in disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery;

(6) To authorize and provide for coordination of activities relating to disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery by agencies and officers of the City of Cranston, and similar state-local, interstate, federal-state, and foreign activities in which the state and its political subdivisions may participate;

(7) To provide a disaster management system embodying all four (4) phases of emergency management: mitigation; preparedness; response; and recovery.

(8) To prepare for emergency health threats, including those caused by acts of bioterrorism, which require the exercise of extraordinary government functions;

(9) To provide the City of Cranston with the ability to respond rapidly and effectively to potential or actual public health emergencies or disaster emergencies.

8.51.050 Definitions. – As used in this chapter:

(1) “Disaster” means occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or man made cause, including but not limited to:

(i) Fire;

(ii) Flood;

(iii) Earthquake;

(iv) Wind, storm, wave action, oil spill, or other water contamination requiring emergency action to avert danger or damage;

(v) Volcanic activity;

(vi) Epidemic;

(vii) Air contamination;

(viii) Blight;

(ix) Drought;

(x) Infestation;

(xi) Explosion;

(xii) Riots;

(xiii) Hostile military or paramilitary action;

(xiv) Endangerment of the health, safety, or resources of the people of the City of Cranston;

(xv) Acts of bioterrorism;

(2) “Political subdivision” means any city or town in Rhode Island;

(3) “Unorganized militia” means all able-bodied persons between the ages of sixteen (16) and fifty (50) years; and

(4) “Bioterrorism” means the intentional use of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, to cause death, disease or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant or other living organism.

8.51.060 Operations. The mayor, chief of police, and chief of the fire department shall provide all necessary staffing to enable the commission to carry out its responsibilities under this ordinance. This shall include providing emergency four-wheel drive transportation to members of the commission in the events that an emergency or disaster prevents the members of the commission from using their own vehicle to assess the emergent situation or other disaster situation.

Section 2. This Ordinance shall take effect upon its final adoption.