This week, many islanders took part in the annual, statewide earthquake drill known as The Great Washington ShakeOut. Held each year in October, all City staff participated as did other island agencies like the Bainbridge Island School District (BISD) and Bainbridge Island Fire Department (BIFD).  As part of the exercise, at 10:17 a.m. the City sent a Nixle alert to all 9,460 subscribers asking everyone to "drop, cover, and hold on" for one minute, practicing good earthquake safety. Immediately following, City facilities were evacuated, staff accounted for, and buildings assessed for reentry. Statewide, this exercise includes more than 1.5 million registered participants across public agencies, nonprofit groups, health care providers, neighborhood organizations and individual households.

Ahead of the statewide drill, on Oct. 16, the City's Emergency Management Coordinator Anne LeSage facilitated a tabletop exercise with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) focused on earthquake response. During an emergency, the Council Chamber serves as the City's EOC, which is a   central location for staff and community partners to meet to gather information and coordinate response and recovery efforts (you may recall, the EOC was activated during last year's winter storm).

Participants in the Oct. 16 exercise included roughly 35 representatives from all City departments, BIFD, BISD, and Bainbridge Prepares. The group spent an hour and a half reviewing response efforts and coordination during the first 24 hours following a hypothetical 7.2 earthquake on the Seattle Fault line. The exercise referred to likely impacts to island roads, buildings and utilities based on existing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) risk assessments. The group focused on how to address immediate life safety concerns, assess the condition of roads and critical infrastructure on the island, check on the status of schools and medical facilities, communicate with the community without internet and cell phones, and activate the island's emergency hubs (shelters) for displaced and injured people.  

Emergency preparedness continues to be a high priority for the City, and we focus on how City resources can be best used to leverage and support the outstanding level of community volunteerism and interest. As an island, we will need to be particularly resilient in the event of a regional incident, which includes preparing your own household to be self-sufficient when resources are limited.

We continue to grow and expand our community capacity through volunteer training and neighborhood-level planning. By the end of 2019, the community will have the benefit of 138 Map My Neighborhood groups, 98 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers, and 116 Wilderness First Responders. If you'd like to learn more about ways you can prepare your own household or neighborhood, please visit the City's preparedness webpage. 

At the study session this week, the Council received an update on the status of the Police Station-Municipal Court replacement project. The Council discussed the aspects of that project related to "green building" and sustainability, and will receive additional information at a future briefing. The Council also discussed a proposed Community Bill of Rights and heard from a representative from the Center for Environmental Legal Defense Fund on similar efforts in other jurisdictions.

At the business meeting next week, the Council will hold public hearings related to the mid-biennial budget modifications and an extension of interim controls for small wireless facilities. The meeting will also cover a number of other topics including changes to encourage great flexibility for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), changes to the rules for the City's Housing Design Demonstration Projects (HDDP) program, revisions to the City's Ethics Program, a proposed process for renewal of the City's electricity franchise agreement with PSE, and additional consideration of a request for funding from Friends of the Farms.