Two weeks into his new role as Montezuma County emergency manager, Paul Hollar told the county commission on Monday that he is focusing on building communications.
Hollar began overseeing the countys emergency plan implementation two week ago, working with Regional Emergency Manager Patricia Gadelda to get up to speed.
Im mainly focused on speaking the same language as everybody else, he said, learning the different agencies, who everybody is and what they do as far as resources for us.
In his first weeks on the job, Hollar has concentrated on making contacts and working on training. He has already established networks with other hazard groups and hopes to create solid communications with several agencies around he state.
Goals for the next 90 days start with a faith-based initiative and working with all of the churches around here, Hollar said. They have a new grant program where Homeland Security will come down and do some training with them so if something does happen, we can use all of our resources.
He said another goal is laying out a plan for the detention center.
Theres nothing really in writing now, and if we had a fire or a riot or something, with all the new deputies, there needs to be something in writing, he said. It would be good to run some drills so if something did happen, especially county wide, that we would have a good back-up plan.
Hollar said he is also interested in reviewing and updating the current county emergency operation plan.
It would be a great learning process for me to go through all of it and make sure were really strong. He said that former emergency manager Doug Parker did a good job on the plan and it may need only slight revisions.
Doug gave me a good idea of what I really need to do, and I have really just been focused on training and learning the language.
Immediately after the meeting, Hollar left for an emergency managers conference in Loveland, Colo., where he will meet other managers from around the state and continue to build networks and resources.
At Mondays meeting, County Treasurer Sherry Dyess presented the National Forest Services Secure Rural Roads grant program for commissioners approval. The funds are allocated to counties to help maintain roads for rural schools and also for county roads and bridges. County Administrator Ashton Harrison recommended that 75 percent of the grant should go to the three school districts in the county and the remainder go to roads and bridges, which would in turn maximize next years grant. He added that 75 percent is the most the county is allowed to disperse to schools, and distribution is based on enrollment.
The Montezuma-Cortez school district will get an estimated $125,000, with approximately $29,000 for Dolores and $16,000 for Mancos.
Reach Brandon Mathis at brandonm@cortezjournal.com.