Tom Hughes, PEMA’s State Hazard Mitigation Officer, will discuss numerous funding opportunities through FEMA, including the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which assists with hazard mitigation projects. He will also address grants available through the Flood Mitigation Assistance program, which can be used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Weather events can negatively impact all areas of township operations, from emergency management to road crew readiness. There is no reason these days to not be fully prepared for oncoming weather. In this webinar, presenters from the National Weather Service (NWS) in State College will discuss how your township can take advantage of NWS resources to be better prepared for the weather challenges you are sure to face, whether it be severe rainfall, high winds, extreme cold or snowfall. Register your road crew and emergency management teams to attend this webinar so they can be ready to use the cutting-edge resources from the NWS to keep your township safe from whatever weather comes your way.

In order for any organization to be effective in emergency situations, leaders need to understand the role filled by each employee during an incident. In municipal government, the Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) plays a key role in preparedness for, mitigation of, response to, and recovery from all types of emergency incidents including weather events, infrastructure failure, and beyond. Sometimes, lack of understanding of this role creates a disconnect between the municipal leaders and the coordinator. This webinar will help bridge the gap between municipal officials and their EMC.

The Pa. Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) requires that supervisors tasked with overseeing their township's emergency management planning take certain training classes. Likewise, your township's Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) must also take required training. This webinar will provide an overview of each of the classes that both supervisors and EMCs must take, and will also discuss where to find each required class. Attendees of this webinar will learn not only how to obtain the training, but, more importantly, how to document that the required training was completed.

Township roadmasters and road crew members are encouraged to participate in this one-hour webinar where troopers from the Pa. State Police Motor Carrier Enforcement Office will discuss a number of important requirements that all public and private employers must use to ensure safe and legal commercial motor vehicle. Topics will include cargo securement, weight restrictions, hours of service, logbooks, driver’s license information, and other matters pertaining to municipal CMV operations.

Many public employers do not understand their rights and liabilities under the Heart and Lung Act. As the result, improper benefits are provided and municipalities expend significant costs that may have been avoided. This webinar, presented by Scott Blissman and Ryan Cassidy of Eckert Seamans, will help you to identify who is and is not eligible to receive the generous benefits provided under the Act, what they receive, when benefits can be terminated and how. Learn to avoid the common mistakes made by employers which result in significant liability.

If you're not focused on volunteer recruitment and retention for your volunteer fire departments -- what are you focused on? This conversation will outline some of the forces converging on today's volunteers and will focus on offering solutions for the community and its first responders to move forward together towards adequate and affordable public safety services.

With townships across the state faced with costs to respond to different types of emergency and catastrophic situations – from tornados to hurricanes to flooding and more – it is of critical importance that they know how to properly conduct preliminary damage assessments in order to maximize potential state and federal relief funds. In this webinar, Tom Hughes with PEMA will review best practices for damage assessments and review the path forward for PEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

With seemingly more frequent, severe storm events occurring, public works departments are busy with culvert and bridge repairs and replacements and stream maintenance activities. These activities may be regulated by the state or federal government. This webinar, presented by Beth Uhler, Project Manager at CEDARVILLE Engineering Group, will review what types of maintenance activities are allowable in streams, when to seek engineering assistance, and when a permit may be required.

This program will review the statutory and regulatory requirements for a municipality and their police department to properly implement Act 57, relating to background checks for law enforcement employment purposes and Act 59, relating to mental health evaluations and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for law enforcement officers. The program will also provide elected policy makers, municipal officials, Chiefs of Police and command staff with the best practices for implementation & recognizing the pitfalls.