Updated May 2010:
| Announcements |
From City of Colorado Springs Emergency Management News:
New Emergency Preparedness and Safety Guides now available.
With summer quickly approaching, the City of Colorado Springs Office of Emergency Management (OEM) encourages citizens to prepare now for the area's most common natural hazards: severe weather. Governor Bill Ritter has proclaimed April 11 through 17 as SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK in Colorado.
To mark the season the OEM has published a new 71-page Emergency Preparedness and Safety guide to assist citizens in preparing for the inevitable storms and more. No local tax dollars were used to create the guides. Costs were paid with a $17,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Colorado Division of Emergency Management State Hazard Mitigation Program. Interested citizens can access an on-line version by visiting springsgov.com and navigating to the Office of Emergency Management Web page. Citizens can pick up a printed copy at any of the following locations:
- City Administration Building, 30 South Nevada Avenue
- City Hall, 107 North Nevada Avenue, First Floor
- Fire Department Complex, 375 Printers Parkway
- Police Operations Center, 705 South Nevada
- Police Department Falcon Substation, 7850 Goddard Street
- Police Department Gold Hill Substation, 955 West Moreno Avenue
- Police Department Sand Creek Substation, 4125 Center Park Drive
- Police Department Stetson Hills Substation, 4110 Tutt Blvd.
Severe Weather
Colorado Springs' most common natural hazard is severe weather. As weather warms, powerful thunderstorms can produce lightning, heavy rain, strong winds, hail, flash flooding and even tornadoes. A typical storm is 15 miles in diameter, and lasts approximately 30 minutes. When these storms appear citizens should seek shelter in sturdy buildings or hardtop vehicles until the storms pass.
Sometimes heavy rains can produce flash flooding - even in typically dry streambeds. Runoff from our nearby mountains also can quickly cause water levels to rise to unsafe levels. During floods citizens should immediately seek higher ground and never attempt to cross moving water either on foot or in a vehicle. Six inches of fast moving water can knock an adult off his or her feet. It only takes 10 inches of moving water to move a car, and two feet of water can float a vehicle.
Tornadoes, although rare in Colorado Springs, are fairly common in eastern parts of El Paso County, such as Falcon and Calhan. When a tornado is coming, citizens only a short amount of time to make life-or-death decisions. Advance planning and quick response are the keys to surviving a tornado. It is important to designate an area in the home as a shelter, and practice tornado drills will all residents. Also, assemble and keep an emergency supply kit handy for quick access; and create an emergency communication plan.
To help protect citizens during severe weather, The National Weather Service will often issue watches and warnings to alert of dangerous weather conditions. A "watch" is issued when atmospheric conditions are present that could produce severe weather. A "warning" means severe weather is occurring. Tune into local broadcast media during thunderstorms for the latest news from the National Weather Service.
| Online safety |
OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
Topics include online safety for kids, email scams, online shopping, spyware, phishing, identity theft, computer disposal and more. Read about each of the topics and learn how to stay safe online. Start with this link here.
| Wildfire Mitigation |
To Wildfire Mitigation (formerly Firewise) Champions,
I know it’s difficult to start thinking about Firewise work on a cold snowy February day, but it’s time. For the past two years, we have had the chipper events in the September and October timeframe and a number of you have requested an earlier schedule. This year we have an early schedule, in fact we have the first chipping date this year - Monday, May 3rd. Mark your calendar and contact Dick Hansen, 598-6338 or hansenrr@comcast.net to sign up for the 2010 event.
Wildfire Mitigation (formerly know as FireWise): As some of you may know, the program name has been changed from FireWise to Wildfire Mitigation. The change is to avoid confusion with another program “Firewise Communities USA” and to better focus on fuels management. New Wildfire Mitigation brochures and folders should be available in March.
2010 City Budget: Although the City of Colorado Springs is experiencing significant economic challenges, CSFD is committed to offering Wildfire Mitigation presentations and on-site consultations throughout the year, as well as providing neighborhood chipping events.
Wildfire Mitigation Meetings and On-Site Consultations: Now is the perfect time to participate in a revised Wildfire Mitigation presentation - this is a great way to get informed about wildfire mitigation, wildfire evacuation, our chipping program and the latest information about fuels reduction. On-site consultation is the best way to determine specific actions you can take to reduce your wildfire risk. Winter, when vegetation is dormant, is a good time for an on-site consultation and to plan your wildfire mitigation activities as it can be easier to get into and do work in the trees. Consultations can be scheduled Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am and 3:30 pm. Contact Andrew Notbohm, Wildland Fuel Program Coordinator at 385-734 or anotbohm@springsgov.com to set up an on-site consultation.
Neighberhood Chipping Guidelines:
What’s Acceptable:
- Woody limbs and branches only – up to 9” diameter.
- No construction or building materials.
- Must be clear of nails or wire.
- No grass clippings or bags of leaves
- No Trash, weeds or yuccas
- No root wads, dirt or rocks.
- Piles only. No bags.
- Pile Guidelines:
- Piles must be stacked with cut ends facing the road.
- Piles must be within 5’ of the roadway.
- Limit pile sixe to 5’x5’x5’. No limit as to the number of piles
- Slash much will be hauled away for recycling or a full load can be left on-site for mulch when requested.
- Do not combine piles with neighbors or haul in material from other neighborhoods.
- Pile Guidelines:
Mountain Shadows 2010 Chipping Event Schedule: Week of 5/3/10.
Mountain Shadows Chipping Coordinator: Dick Hansen 598-6338, hansenrr@comcast.net
| Colorado Springs Police Dept Training Opportunities |
Below is a list of training opportunities open to the public.
ALL trainings are at the Gold Hill sub-station, located at 955 W. Moreno Ave.
No RSVP required except for the teen safety course in the summer 2010.
See dates and times below.
Any questions contact Officer Bob Harris, Crime Prevention, Colorado Springs Police Department, Gold Hill Division. Office (719) 385-2117 or Cell (719) 499-7102
May 18th 7-8pm Personal Safety
May 25th 7-8pm De-escalation Techniques
June 2nd 7-9pm Teen Safety 1st ½ of the course
June 9th 7-9pm Teen Safety second ½ of course
June 24th 6-10pm Teen Safety entire course
August 4th 7-8pm Disaster Preparedness
August 19th 7-8pm Terrorism Awareness
September 15th 7-8pm Home Safety (Home Invasion Prevention)
September 21st 7-8pm TASER (civilian)
October 6th 7-8pm ID theft Prevention
October 19th 7-8pm Travel Safety
November 4th 7-8pm Personal Safety
December 9th 7-8pm CPTED Principles
Training dates and times are also available on the city website under calendar. For more information, use the link:
http://www.springsgov.com/calendar.aspx?SectionID=-1
| Snow Removal Policy |
HOAs within Mountain Shadows may be interested in the following:
Because of the recent funding reductions, city street snow-plowing policies have been changed. Neighborhood associations and home owner associations which so choose may contract privately for snow removal services. For more information, see http://www.springsgov.com/Page.aspx?NavID=2754
Application link: http://www.springsgov.com/units/streets/HOAPrivateSnowPlowingApplicationPacket.pdf
"The Street Division's major focus is to respond to Primary and Secondary areas as first response in a snow event and residential streets will begin to be plowed after 6 (six) inches of snow accumulation has occurred."
| MSCA Meetings |
MSCA meets every other month on the last Wednesday of the month at 7PM at Fire Station 18 (behind Walgreens and Blockbuster). |