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The County of Gaston
ordains: |
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Article 1. |
Gaston County Emergency Management Division.
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Section 1. |
Short Title
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This Ordinance shall be known
and may be cited and referred to as "The Emergency Management Ordinance for
the County of Gaston."
(as amended)
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Section 2. |
Intent and Purpose
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(1) |
It is the intent
and purpose of this Ordinance to establish an office that will
insure the complete and efficient utilization of all of the
County of Gaston's resources to combat disaster resulting from enemy actions
or other disasters as defined herein.
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(2) |
The Gaston County
Office of Emergency Management will be the coordinating agency for
all activity in connection with Emergency Management, it will be the instrument through which the Gaston County Board
of Commissioners may exercise the authority and
discharge the responsibilities vested in them during disaster emergencies.
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(3) |
This Ordinance will
not relieve any County Department of the moral responsibilities or
authority given to it in the County Charter or by
local ordinances, nor will it adversely affect the work of any volunteer
agency organized for relief in disaster emergencies.
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Section 3. |
Definitions
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(1) |
The following
definitions shall apply in the interpretation of this Article:
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(a) |
Emergency
Management - is the basic government functions of maintaining the public
peace, health and safety during an
emergency. This term shall include plans and preparations for protection and
relief, recovery and rehabilitation from effects of
an attack by the forces of an enemy nation or the agents thereof, or a
disaster as defined herein. It shall not, however, include any activity
that is the primary responsibility of the military forces of the
United States.
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(b) |
Attack - shall mean
direct or indirect assault against the County of Gaston, its government, its
environs, or of the nation, by
the forces of a hostile nation or the agents thereof, including assault by
bombing, conventional or nuclear, chemical or
biological warfare, terrorism or sabotage.
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(c) |
Disaster - includes
but is not limited to actual or threatened enemy attack, sabotage,
extraordinary fire, flood, storm,
epidemic, accident, chemical spill or other impending or actual calamity
endangering or threatening to endanger health, life or
property of constituted government.
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(d) |
Emergency
Management Forces - shall mean the employees, equipment and facilities of all
County departments, boards,
councils, institutions and commissions; and in addition, it shall include all
volunteer personnel, equipment and facilities
contributed by, or obtained from, volunteer persons or agencies.
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(e) |
Volunteer - shall mean
contributing a service, equipment or facilities to the Emergency
Management Division without remuneration.
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(f) |
Emergency
Management Volunteer - shall mean any person duly registered, identified
and appointed
by the Coordinator
of the Gaston County Emergency Management Division and assigned to participate in
the emergency management activity.
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(g) |
Coordinator - shall
mean the Coordinator of the Gaston County Emergency Division, appointed as
prescribed in this
Ordinance.
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(h) |
Regulations - shall
include plans, programs and other emergency procedures deemed essential to
emergency management.
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Section 4. |
Organization and Appointments
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(1) |
The organization shall
consist of the following:
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(a) |
An agency of Emergency
Management within the executive department of the Gaston County
government under the direction
of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. The agency head of the Gaston
County Emergency Management Division shall be known as the Coordinator, and such assistants and other employees as
are deemed necessary for the proper
functioning of the agency will be appointed.
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(b) |
The employees and resources
of all Gaston County departments, boards, institutions, and
councils shall participate in the
emergency management activities. Duties assigned to County departments shall
be the same as or similar to the normal duties
of the department, where possible.
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(c) |
Volunteer personnel and
agencies offering service to, and accepted by the County.
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(2) |
The Gaston County Board of
Commissioners shall appoint a Coordinator of the Gaston County
Emergency Management Agency
who shall be a person well versed and trained in planning operations involving
the activities of many different agencies which will
operate to protect the public health, safety and welfare in the event of
danger from enemy action or disaster as defined in this
Ordinance.
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(3) |
The Coordinator shall
designate and appoint Deputy Coordinators to assume the emergency
duties of the Coordinator in the event of
his absence or inability to act.
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Section 5. |
Emergency Powers and Duties
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(1) |
Coordinator of
Gaston County Emergency Management.
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(a) |
During any period
when disaster or when Gaston County has been struck by disaster,
within the definition of this Ordinance,
the Emergency Management Coordinator may promulgate such regulations as he
deems necessary to protect life and property
and preserve critical resources. This promulgation of regulations solely by
the Coordinator will be only when immediacy of
necessary action precludes contact and discussion with the Gaston County
Commissioners, such regulations may include,
but shall not be limited to the following:
- Regulations
prohibiting or restricting the movement of vehicles in order to
facilitate the work of emergency management forces, or to
facilitate the mass movement of persons from critical areas
within the county.
- Regulations
pertaining to the movement of persons from areas deemed to be
hazardous or vulnerable to disaster.
- Such other
regulations necessary to preserve public peace, health and
safety.
- Regulations
promulgated in accordance with the authority above will be given
widespread circulation through all avenues of the news media.
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Section 6. |
Day to Day Duties and Responsibilities of the
Coordinator
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(1) |
The Coordinator
shall be responsible to the Gaston County Board of Commissioners in
regard to all phases of emergency
management activity. The Coordinator shall be responsible for the planning,
coordination and operation of the Emergency
Management activities in Gaston County. The Coordinator shall maintain
liaison with the State and Federal authorities and the
authorities of nearby political subdivisions so as to insure the most
effective operation of the Emergency Management plans. The
Coordinator's duties shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
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(a) |
Coordinating the recruitment
of volunteer personnel and agencies to augment the personnel and
facilities of the County
of
Gaston for Emergency Management purposes.
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(b) |
Development and coordination
of plans for the immediate use of all facilities, equipment,
manpower and other resources of the
County for the purpose of minimizing or preventing damage to persons and
property; and protecting and restoring to
usefulness governmental Management and public utilities necessary for the public
health, safety, and welfare.
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(c) |
Negotiating and concluding
agreements with owners or persons in control of building or other
property for the use of such
building or other property for the Emergency Management purposes and
designating suitable buildings as public shelters.
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Section 7. |
Emergency Management Plan
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(1) |
Comprehensive
Emergency Management plans shall be adopted and maintained by
resolution of the Gaston County Board of
Commissioners. In the preparations of these plans as it
pertains to county organization, it is intended that the management,
equipment
and facilities and personnel of all existing departments and
agencies shall be utilized to the fullest extent. When
approved, it shall be
the duty of all departments to maintain their portions of the plan
in a current state of readiness at all times. These Plans
shall have
the effect of law whenever a disaster, as defined in the Ordinance,
has been proclaimed.
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(2) |
The Coordinator shall
prescribe in the emergency plans those positions within the disaster
organization, in addition to his own, for
which lines of succession are necessary. In each instance, the responsible
person will designate and keep on file with the
Coordinator a current list of three (3) persons as successors to his
position. The list will be in order of succession and will nearly as
possible designate persons best capable of carrying out all assigned
duties and functions.
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(3) |
Each service chief and
department head assigned responsibility in the Plans shall be
responsible for carrying out all duties and
functions assigned therein. Duties will include the organization and training
of assigned employees and where needed volunteers. Each chief shall formulate the Standard Operating Procedure to implement the
plans for his service.
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(4) |
Amendments to these Plans
shall be submitted to the Coordinator. If approved, the Coordinator
will then submit the amendments to
the Gaston County Board of Commissioners with his recommendation for their
approval. Such amendments shall take effect 30 days from the date of
approval.
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(5) |
When a required competency
or skill for a disaster function is not available within government,
the Coordinator is authorized to seek
assistance from persons outside of government. The assignment of duties, when
of a supervisory nature, shall also include the
granting of authority for the persons so assigned to carry out such duties
prior to, during, and after the occurrence of a
disaster. Such management from persons outside of government may be accepted by local
government on a volunteer basis. Such citizens shall be enrolled as
Emergency Management Volunteers.
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Section 8. |
No Municipal or Private Liability
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(1) |
This Ordinance is an exercise
by the County of Gaston of its governmental functions for the
protection of the public peace, health,
and safety, and neither the County of Gaston nor agents and representatives if
some, or any individual, receiver, firm, partnership
corporation, association, or trustee, or any of the agents thereof in good faith
carrying out, complying with or
attempting to comply with any order, rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this
Ordinance, shall be liable for any damage sustained to persons or property as
the result of said activity.
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(2) |
Any person owning or
controlling real estate or other premises who voluntarily and
without compensation grants the County of
Gaston the right to inspect, designate and use the whole or any part of parts
of such real estate or premises for the purpose of
sheltering persons during an actual, impending or practice disaster situation
shall not be civilly liable for the death of, or injury to, any persons on or about such real estate or premises under such license, privilege
or other permission; or for loss or, damage to, the property of such person.
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Section 9. |
Violations
It shall be a misdemeanor for
any person to violate any of the provisions of this Ordinance or plans issued
pursuant to the authority contained herein, or to
willfully obstruct, hinder or delay any member of the Emergency Management
organization as herein defined in the enforcement of the
provisions of this Ordinance or any plan issued thereunder.
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Section 10. |
Severability
Should any provision of this
Ordinance be declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect
the validity of other provisions, or of this
Ordinance as a whole, it being the legislative intent that the provisions of
this Ordinance shall be severable and remain valid notwithstanding such
declaration.
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Section 11. |
Conflicting Ordinances, Orders, Rules and Regulations
Suspended
At all times when the orders,
rules and regulations made and promulgated pursuant to this Article shall be in
effect, they shall supersede all existing ordinances, orders, rules and
regulations insofar as the latter may be inconsistent therewith.
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Section 12. |
Effective Date
This Ordinance shall take
effect on the 1st day of March of 1976. |
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___________________________________________
(electronically signed, original on file with the Clerk to the
Board)
Chairman,
Gaston County Board of Commissioners |
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