Batavia mayor suggests combining emergency agencies

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke wants to roll the city's Emergency Services and Disaster Agency into the Batavia Fire Department because he believes it will help the city get more state and federal Homeland Security money for the agency.

Schielke said that, after talking to state officials, he believes having a full-time supervisor of the agency — possibly one of the fire department's deputy chiefs — will help the agency get accreditation from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

Accreditation is necessary, according to an IEMA spokesman, for a disaster agency to get the state and federal grants IEMA administers.

“They take kind of a dimmer view of part-time (coordinators),” Schielke said.

Batavia's ESDA director is a part-time, paid position. Many of the ESDA workers are volunteers.

The mayor proposed the plan to the city services committee last week.

Batavia ESDA already is housed in Fire Station No. 2 on West Main Street. It moved there when the fire station was rebuilt.

But the agency has been operating with hand-me-down vehicles and trailers, including one that is 38 years old and now inoperable. The last new vehicle it got is a 1996 Jeep, which it still uses.

“Some people think I was trying to throw ESDA under the bus,” Schielke said.

But he said that isn't his plan.

“I want to get this thing (accreditation) taken care of,” Schielke said.

Batavia's ESDA Director Jeffrey L. Glaser said last week that while he is not opposed to the idea, he has some reservations.

ESDA agencies in other towns that are supervised by fire departments have run into problems over command authority, such as when to sound weather-warning sirens or activate the ESDA team, he said.

The city services committee directed Glaser and Fire Chief Randall Deicke to study the idea and report back Feb. 7.

The IEMA regulates disaster planning, and administers federal and state grant money. To get a grant, a non-mandated ESDA, such as Batavia's, must have state accreditation.

Counties and municipalities with more than 500,000 residents are mandated to have an office of emergency management; smaller towns, such as Batavia, are not.

Agencies can also obtain state certification, a different status, through their county emergency management agencies.

Glaser said he has repeatedly applied to Kane County's Office of Emergency Management for certification.

That is not the case, according to Don Bryant, Kane County's emergency management director.

“He (Glaser) has not come to us for state certification,” Bryant said.

Glaser could not be reached for further comment.

The committee suggested the mayor take the concern over the state certification to the Kane County Board chairman, and to county board member Tom Van Cleave, who represents much of Batavia.

“We have to take a pitchfork up to Kane County and have a confab with the chairman,” Alderman Vic Dietz said.