Centre Region COG
Office of Emergency Management

History of Emergency Management in the Centre Region

Until recently, emergency management was an often-overlooked function of Pennsylvania’s local governments.  The tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the continuing threats to national security have ended that complacency.  Many communities now have an active interest in strengthening their emergency management programs.  However, budget limitations and lack of trained personnel make meaningful improvements difficult.  State Act 35 requires municipalities to adopt an emergency operations plan, designate an emergency operations center, and recommend the appointment of an emergency management coordinator.  Most of the Commonwealth’s 2,600 municipalities have not yet complied with all or some of these mandates.

On February 17, 2003, the Centre Region COG (State College Borough, College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris, and Patton Townships) implemented a new concept for enhancing emergency management capacities in a cost-effective manner.  This concept is based on the fact that disasters affect a region, not a single municipality.  Consequently, it makes sense to prepare and respond with a regionally-coordinated approach.

Since 1990, on behalf of its six member municipalities, the Centre Region COG has operated a regional emergency management program.  Coordinating their efforts with the Centre County Emergency Management Office and PEMA, the municipalities adopted a single emergency management plan, designated a shared operations center, and recommended the appointment of the same volunteer emergency management coordinator.  Consistent with State Act 180, this COG program was established by having each municipality adopt, by ordinance, Articles of Agreement that identify the terms and funding commitments for their participation.

This volunteer-based program functioned effectively for many years.  However, new threats to domestic safety, compounded by the Centre Region’s growing population and the extra risks associated with the opening of a new interstate highway, led municipal officials to explore options for strengthening the Centre Region COG’s emergency management program.

To explore all available options, discussions with Penn State University were initiated; it was discovered that the University was also interested in improving its emergency management program.  While both the COG and the University wanted to upgrade their capacity to prepare for and respond to emergencies, individually they could not financially justify a full-time employment position.  Recognizing their common interest, a dialogue occurred that resulted in the adoption of a partnership agreement which establishes a shared position for an Emergency Management Coordinator.  Under this agreement, the Coordinator is technically an employee of the University, but 50% of work time is committed to the COG for emergency management.  The agreement provides for a payment from the COG to the University for approximately 50% of the Coordinator’s compensation and benefit costs.

For daily oversight, the position reports to the COG Executive Director.  During a declared emergency, the Coordinator reports to the Centre Region Emergency Management Council that is comprised of the municipal managers from the six participating municipalities.

The COG Emergency Management Coordinator is Stephen Abrams, who previously served as Emergency Manager for Alachua County, Florida, which includes the city of Gainesville and the University of Florida.  A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, Mr. Abrams joined Alachua County as an Assistant Emergency Manager in 1992 and was named Emergency Manager in 1997.  In 2000, he received the Emergency Manager of the Year award from Governor Jeb Bush.

Mr. Abrams’ duties include updating COG’s emergency management plan, training response personnel, and organizing table top and field training exercises involving a wide variety of municipal services (police, fire, public works, ambulance, etc.)  He will also provide assistance in locating and equipping existing buildings that could be used as temporary community shelters, and in evaluating options for alerting residents of pending emergencies.  Mr. Abrams says that he enjoys "the challenging opportunity of developing a comprehensive all-hazards emergency management program serving COG, Pennsylvania State University, and the local residents."

Jim Steff, Executive Director of the Centre Region COG, noted, "this innovative partnership between the University and the COG in sharing a single employment position will promote coordinated emergency planning that will benefit the municipalities and the University."  He anticipates that this regional approach to emergency management has broad applications to other Pennsylvania communities.

In 2002, the COG received a $25,000 shared municipal services grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to assist with the implementation of this new position.