City to Spend $6,000 Updating Emergency Plan

City Council decided Tuesday to take some $6,000 from the Manassas Park Capital Fund Balance to pay for the required update to its Emergency Operations Plan.

The state requires municipalities to update the Emergency Operations Plan every four years, according to city documents.

City Council plans to approve the update at its Dec. 18 meeting so it can be submitted to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management by January, as required.

While creating the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, city staff “failed” to anticipate the $5,991 it takes to hire a consultant to assistant in updating the plan, according to city documents.

There is no money in the fire department’s budget to cover the cost, so it has to come from the Capital Fund Balance, city officials said.

The city plans to use Dewberry Consultants LLC to update the plan make the purchasing by "riding" the City of Fairfax's plan, according to documents.

The plan, also known as the Comprehensive Emergency Management Program Emergency Operations Plan, was activated in late October, when city manager James “Jim” Zumwalt declared a local state of emergency for Manassas Park as Hurricane Sandy approached and Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth.

The city remained in a state of emergency until Tuesday evening, when city council officially terminated it. Virginia law requires a local emergency to be terminated at the first meeting held after the declaration.

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