New Hurley Website Aims to Prepare Residents for Emergencies and other Hurley News/by Maya Schubert/Kingston Wire
The Town of Hurley, working with the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), has developed a Disaster Preparedness Plan to inform the public of precautions and procedures in cases of emergencies. The town recently launched a page on its website devoted to emergency resources; it plans in the coming weeks and months to disseminate the information through social media outreach, postcards and printouts.
At a town board meeting Tuesday evening, CCE Natural Resources Educator Gillian Mathews gave a presentation to the public on the work the town has done with the group so far and plans to do in the months ahead. Over the past few years, the CCE has helped the town earn Bronze status in New York State’s Climate Smart Communities program.
The first step of the town’s efforts to inform and aid residents when emergencies strike has been to launch a “Disaster Preparedness” page on its website that includes tabs with tips and resources. The webpage, designed by town Public Information Officer Jeremy Schiffres, with help from Mathews, includes information on climate change, food and water safety tips, emergency resources for pet owners, gas and power outage tips and a host of contacts for emergency notifications and instructions.
“We've … been working with municipal officials and the website manager and the [Conservation Advisory Committee] members and everyone else to get more insight on what populations are the most vulnerable in the community, what resources are really required for people to have access to, and kind of building up the webpage according to that need,” Mathews said.
But Mathews acknowledged that the information needs to be spread widely.
“I know oftentimes, we're not on the town website for fun, unfortunately,” she said.
Going forward, the town plans to mail postcards detailing some of the information and inviting residents to explore the disaster preparedness page through a QR code. In addition, Hurley plans to circulate printouts with instructions and resources at town and community events. The town’s social media page will also post interactive quizzes and games to challenge residents’ emergency preparedness knowledge.
Craggy and split open by the Ashokan Reservoir, Hurley and West Hurley’s geographies are particularly vulnerable to flooding. Residents attending the presentation recalled the aftermath of past storms.
“The fire department has really stepped up in the past couple of years and really kept an eye on rising waters,” said one resident. “They're the ones who came to us and told us to evacuate each time. That was all — we got the fire department and nobody else.”
Mathews said she expected to order printouts for distribution within the next few days.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the town board also filled the two positions in the building department left by the departure last week of zoning enforcement officer Tom Tryon and building inspector and municipal code officer Eric Kitchen. The board approved the hiring of former building inspector and zoning officer Paul Economos as zoning enforcement officer and fire inspector and Troy Ashdown as building inspector and municipal code officer.
According to Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight, “as many members of the town board as could be present” conducted interviews in the past week with Economos, Ashdown and other candidates, but did not have time to discuss the interviews with the full board before Tuesday’s meeting. At the request of council members Mike Boms and Gregory Simpson, the board went into a brief executive session to discuss the candidates. Upon return, the board named Economos and Ashdown as its picks. However, Economos’ approval was contingent on the board receiving two references, one of which will attest to his role as an expert witness to regional law firms. Boms abstained from voting yes before seeing the references.
Economos began the full-time position on Thursday, Sept. 21, and will receive $1,442.32 per week. Ashdown, who is starting work on Monday, will work 20 hours a week at $33 per hour.