April 23, 2026 Meeting Minutes

Scioto County

Emergency Planning Committee

MEETING NOTICE

April 23, 2026

12:30 PM

Conference Room

Scioto County Department of Job & Family Services

710 Court Street – Portsmouth, Ohio

AGENDA

I.         Approval of January 22, 2026, Meeting Minutes

II.     Financial Report

III.         Items of Business

a.    2026 LEPC Exercise

IV.          Updates

V.      Adjournment

*Next meeting will be July 23, 2026, at 12:30 PM. 

Scioto County

Local Emergency Planning Committee

April 23, 2026 – MEETING INFORMATION

I.                   Previous Minutes

The minutes from the January 22, 2026, LEPC meeting were emailed to the members for your review. Approval of minutes.

·         Motion: Approve minutes from January 22, 2026, meeting – made by Dan Simco

·         Motion: Seconded by David Thoroughman

·         Vote: Unanimous approval

·         Resolved: Minutes from January 22, 2026, meeting approved with no modifications.

II.                 LEPC Financial Report

Through the end of the First Quarter of FY 2026:

Fuel:                              Sunoco -                                          $    12.98

                                                                           TOTAL      $    12.98

Training                         Bad Day Training                           $   4,250.00

                                                                           TOTAL      $   4,250.00  

YTD TOTAL:                                                                         $   4,262.98

·         Financial Report given by Information and Emergency Response Coordinator Larry Mullins

·         Motion: Approve financial report – made by Blaine Duduit

·         Motion: Seconded by Chris Kemper

·         Vote: Unanimous approval

·         Resolved: Financial report was approved without modification.

III.             Items of Business:

a.       2026 LEPC Exercise: The annual LEPC exercise was held on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at the South Webster Fire Dept. The exercise was well attended, and all objectives were met. Deputy Director Lynn was the exercise director and gave an overview of the tabletop exercise. A summary of the evaluator recommendations is included in these minutes.

b.      A handout for an upcoming Crisis Intervention Team Training was supplied to the LEPC by Shawnee Family Health.

IV.             Updates

The meeting concluded with a roundtable of various agencies updating the group on the latest activities at their agencies. Some of the updates included:

Charles Thomas – Ohio Homeland Security – gave an update on drone detection availability.

Capt. Sommers – Portsmouth Police Department – reviewed the recent exercise with PPD, SCSO, SCEMA, SSU and others at Portsmouth Elementary School.

Chief Brewer – Portsmouth Police Department – gave on update on the Orbeez gun shootings recently in the city.

James Parsley – Altivia Petrochemical – talked briefly of the recent chemical emergency at a chemical plant in Kanawha County, WV.

Barry Gampp – ODOT – gave update on SR 355 repair.

Mike Mershon – Porter Twp – Update on tornado siren maintenance in the township.

John Dixon – New Boston Police – Also having an Orbeez gun issue in the village. Working to get an ordinance in place.

David Thoroughman – Scioto County Sheriff – update on a local issue and the importance of having facts before posting on social media.

Dale Egbert – ODNR – Slow start to brush fire season. Things are beginning to green up.

Chris Neff – 5th Ward Portsmouth City Council – gave update on several projects within his ward of the city.

Dan Simco – Salvation Army – Canteen available for first responders 24/7.

Mark Andronis, Lynn Wilbur, and Robert Dupras – Centrus, PORTS, and SOCCO – updates on jobs and construction and demolition at the facility. Also, a full-scale exercise planned for Aug. 19, 2026.

Lorie Mount – Ohio EMA – Scioto County should get a copy of our TTX exercise report this week.

Brody Davis – Ohio EMA – also briefly discussed the TTX exercise and that it will go to the SERC for concurrence at the June meeting.

Isaac Naylor – UK King’s Daughter – update on EM at their health care facility

David Dunlap – SOCF – staffing has stabilized and their Local Support Agencies (LSA) meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2026.

April Mattingly – Portsmouth City Health Department – update on the health department.

Tamela Moore-Morton – SC Job and Family Services – update on children in placement and upcoming retirements and vacancies.

Chris Smith – Portsmouth City Health Department – gave a snapshot of Scioto County vaccine rates in schools.

Devin Urvick – American Red Cross – updated the group on the support that the ARC has offered to county residents since the last LEPC meeting, including financial, following fires and smoke detector installs.

John Peters – SSU – stated university preparing for graduation.

Barb Setser – Access Scioto County - briefly discussed the recent audit at ACS.

Chris Kemper – ARES – stated all is going well. Ft. Hill repeater is up and functioning normally.

Ryan Robirds – OSP – update on recent accident on SR 823 and future enforcements.

Aaron Warren – ODNR Watercraft – Stated he couldn’t top Sgt. Robirds report.

Brent Howard – SEOESC – stated was new to the group and was happy to fill in.

Merit Smith – SC Commissioner – update on some roadway and engineer projects and happenings at the county.

V.                Adjournment

Motion: To adjourn made by Tim Colley

Motion: Seconded by Debby Brewer

Vote: Unanimous approval

The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:33 p.m.

Scioto County 2026 Tabletop (TTX) Exercise Evaluator Comments/Recommendations

During the tabletop exercise, evaluators completed evaluation forms from the SERC’s Ohio Hazardous Materials Exercise and Evaluation Manual on which they recorded their impressions of the exercise. These forms guided an objective evaluation of the exercise and provided a forum for additional comments and recommendations. Every LEPC must successfully meet 12 specific objectives in every 4-year cycle. This year, 2026, is year 1 of a new 4-year cycle.

MODULE #1 - Objective #3 - INCIDENT COMMAND – 10 Points of Review

All 10 points of review were met with positive comments and the following were recommendations:

·         Assure 911 PSAP records all communications.

·         Utilize the NWS for Plume Modeling and live weather updates.

·         Get a bigger projector screen for the exercise.

·         Notify and update public officials when a chemical hazard happens in their jurisdictions. (Commissioners, Mayor, Council, Trustees, etc.)

MODULE #2 - Objective #6 - COMMUNICATIONS – 6 Points of Review

All 6 points of review were met with positive comments and the following were recommendations:

·         Assure 911 PSAP use a hazmat template for dispatchers to ask caller questions during the initial notification and response.

·         Reminder multiple MARCS radio channels available (16 LE Comms, 13 E COMM -22 actual but 1 for statewide disaster coordination and 8 for OHS regions, Scioto 1/Scioto 2, SO 73, M COMMs - 4 available. M COMM 3 for SC, user to user; not monitored).

·         Training for schools on MARCS radios and usage of.

MODULE #2 - Objective #8 – POPULATION PROTECTIVE ACTIONS – 10 Points of Review

All 10 points of review were met with positive comments and the following were recommendations:

·         Assure Fire Department’s radios are intrinsically safe.

·         Host a CAMEO, ALOHA, and MARPLOT class.

·         Contact public health to assist with disseminating information to the public.

·         Assure carriers have a hazmat cleanup contractor.

MODULE #3 - Objective #9 – EMERGENCY PUBLIC INFORMATION – 9 Points of Review

All 9 points of review were met with positive comments and the following were recommendations:

·         Host PIO training through Ohio EMA and/or FEMA networks.