HOWELL – Municipal officials have opened a new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at town hall on Route 9, Howell.
The EOC will serve as “the brain of the operation” during a disaster or a time of need. Multiple township departments have designated work stations in the EOC that have been outfitted with computers, telephones and other equipment which will allow for optimal communication in case of an emergency, according to municipal officials.
Mayor Theresa Berger, Councilwoman Evelyn O’Donnell, former mayor Bill Gotto, Howell Police Athletic League President Chris Hill and representatives from the Department of Public Works, emergency services agencies, fire departments (including Farmingdale) and utility companies visited the EOC on Sept. 7 for a demonstration of its capabilities.
“We invited all of our partners in the community to come here to make sure they can access their computer systems from within the EOC,” said Jeffrey Morrell, the coordinator of Howell’s Office of Emergency Management.
Morrell called the meeting that included some of Howell’s bravest and finest “a drill.”
“What I want everybody to do is come in and familiarize yourself with everything here because God forbid something happens,” he told those in attendance.
There are multiple LCD screens mounted on the walls; two screens were showing local and national news, one screen was tracking the path of Hurricane Irma and one screen was being used by Gotto to display a fire department’s emergency system server as he explained its operation.
Information technology specialists were present to help everyone “work out the kinks” as representatives of township departments logged in and synced up their services.
Director of Community Development Jim Herrman said, “A lot of thought went into creating a usable EOC. The (facility) we had before was very large and it was not very user-friendly. We went through many designs to try and come up with a good layout that was best for the township and best for the people who are going to be here for emergencies, with their input, and we finally came up with this configuration.”
Herrman said Howell’s public works employees undertook some of the construction and revamped and reconfigured the desks and cubicles to create the operations center.
Berger said she was “quite impressed” with the result.
“I think our departments pulled together to make sure we are going to be able to take care of any emergency. They did an amazing job. The (EOC) looks great and it is so conducive for working collaboratively with (multiple) departments,” the mayor said.