(A) Establishment. Under this section, the Village establishes the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) to prevent, minimize, repair, and alleviate injury or damage resulting from the explosion of atomic or other means from without or by means of sabotage or other disloyal actions within, or from fire, flood, earthquake, telecommunications failure, or other natural or technological causes, in accordance with the Illinois Emergency Management Act (the Act) (20 ILCS 3305/1 et seq.), as may be amended from time to time. The Village may exercise any and all powers, rights and duties available to it under the Act for emergency management duties and under non-specific standard operating procedures for Homeland Security: even if not specifically enumerated in this chapter.
(B) Composition. The DHSEM shall consist of the Coordinator-Chief, with the advice and consent of the President and Board of Trustees. The Coordinator-Chief and members of the DHSEM serve on a voluntary basis. The Chief of Police and Chief of the Fire Department shall be permanent members of the DHSEM.
(C) Coordinator-Chief. The Coordinator-Chief of the DHSEM shall be appointed by the Village President and shall serve until removed by same per 20 ILCS 3305/10(i). The Coordinator-Chief shall have direct responsibility for the organization, administration, training, and operations of the DHSEM, subject to the direction and control of the Village President as provided by statute. The Coordinator-Chief shall report to the Village Manager for purposes of handling day-to-day administrative activities and matters. The Coordinator-Chief shall assist in the coordination of all the Village’s department resources (Police, Fire, Public Works, Animal Care Control, Public Health, and Water Management) when an emergency or disaster occurs. Subject to the annual budgetary constraints of the Village and the annual budget, the Coordinator-Chief shall be compensated in the amount of $15,000 per fiscal year for the performance of day-to-day administrative activities and matters relating to the DHSEM. No compensation shall be paid to the Coordinator-Chief for performance of his/her duties when responding to an emergency or disaster.
(D) Oath. Every person appointed to serve in any capacity in the DHSEM organization shall, before entering upon his duties, execute a written oath in substantially the form set forth in Section 20 of the Act (20 ILCS 3305/20), before the Coordinator-Chief or other person authorized to administer oaths in the state (20 ILCS 3305/20). The oath shall be filed with the Coordinator-Chief.
(E) Office space. The Village President and Board of Trustees are authorized to designate space in a Village building, or elsewhere, as may be provided for by the Village President and Board of Trustees, for the DHSEM as its office.
(F) Functions and duties. The DHSEM shall perform all DHSEM functions within the Village as prescribed in and by the Act (20 ILCS 3305/1 et seq.), the State Emergency Operations Plan, and programs, orders, rules, and regulations as may be promulgated by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and by local ordinance, and, in addition, shall perform those duties outside the corporate limits as may be required pursuant to any mutual aid agreements with other political subdivisions as provided by the Act (20 ILCS 3305/1 et seq.). The Coordinator-Chief shall be responsible for preparing and updating the Village’s Emergency Operations Plan, which plan shall be approved by resolution of the President and Board of Trustees.
(G) Service as mobile support team. All or any members of the DHSEM organization may be designated as members of a mobile support team created by the Director of the IEMA as provided by law, to aid and to reinforce the IEMA and emergency services and disaster agencies in areas stricken by disaster. Personnel of a mobile support team, while on duty pursuant to such a call or while engaged in regularly scheduled training exercises, shall, if they are an employee of the Village, have the powers, duties, rights, privileges and immunities, and receive the compensation incidental to their employment, and if not an employee of the Village, shall be entitled to at least $1 per year compensation from the state.
(H) Emergency action. A proclamation of a disaster by the Governor shall activate the State Emergency Operations Plan and the Village’s Emergency Operations Plan, and shall be authority for the deployment and use of any forces that the plan applies and for use or distribution of any supplies, equipment, and materials and facilities assembled, stockpiled, or arranged to be made available under the Act (20 ILCS 3305/1 et seq.) or other provision of law relating to disasters.
(I) Local disaster declaration. Only the Village President, President Pro Tem, or the President’s emergency interim successor may declare a local disaster. It shall not be continued or renewed for a period in excess of 7 days except by or with the consent of the Board of Trustees. Any order or proclamation declaring, continuing, or terminating a local disaster shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed promptly with the Village Clerk. The effect of a declaration of a local disaster is to activate the emergency operations plan of the DHSEM and to authorize the furnishing of aid and assistance thereunder.
(J) Mutual aid agreements. The Coordinator-Chief of the DHSEM may, in collaboration with other public agencies within the immediate vicinity, develop or cause to be developed mutual aid arrangements with other political subdivisions in the state for reciprocal disaster response and recovery assistance in case a disaster is too great to be dealt with unassisted. The mutual aid shall not, however, be effective unless and until approved by each of the political subdivisions. The arrangements shall be consistent with the State Emergency Operations Plan and state emergency management program, and, in the event of a disaster, it shall be the duty of each emergency management agency to render assistance in accordance with the provisions of the mutual aid agreements.
(K) Reimbursement by state. The State Treasurer may receive and allocate to the appropriate fund, any reimbursement by the state to the Village for expenses incident to training members of the DHSEM as prescribed by the State Director of IEMA, compensation for services and expenses of members of a mobile support team while serving outside the Village in response to a call by the Governor or State Director, as provided by law, and any other reimbursement made by the state incident to DHSEM activities as provided by law.
(L) Purchase and expenditures. The Village President and Board of Trustees may, on recommendation of the Coordinator-Chief or on their own motion, enter into contracts or incur obligations necessary to place the Village in a position to effectively combat any disaster, as defined in Section 4 of the Act (20 ILCS 3305/4), and to protect the public health and safety, protect property, and provide emergency assistance to victims of disasters. In the event of a disaster, the Village President and Board of Trustees may exercise the above powers, in the light of the exigencies of the disaster and, excepting mandatory constitutional requirements, without regard to the procedures and formalities normally prescribed by law pertaining to the performance of public work, entering into contracts, the incurring of obligations, the employment of temporary workers, the rental of equipment, the purchase of supplies and materials, and the appropriation, expenditure, and disposition of public funds and property, as authorized by Section 10(j) of the Act (20 ILCS 3305/10(j)). Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit the Village President’s authority to apply for, administer and expend grants, gifts or payments in aid of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
(Ord. C0-04-28, passed 9-1-2004; Am. Ord. C0-04-29, passed 9-20-2004; Am. Ord. CO-2021-31, passed 11-16-2021)