EATON — During a Monday, Sept. 19, regular Preble County Board of Commissioners meeting, the board received a report from the new EMA (Emergency Management Agency director, Suzy Cottingim.

Cottingim updated commissioners on the status of the department since her recent appointment as director, including the drafting process for the emergency operations plan rewrite, LEPC hazmat plan rewrites, and an upcoming full-scale training exercise.

“Our full-scale exercise is coming up Oct. 1, from 9 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m., at Nutrien Ag Solutions in Campbellstown. We had our final exercise planning meeting on the fifteenth, so that’s going pretty well — the contractor’s taking care of most of that,” Cottingim said.

Cottingim added, the exercise would start with breakfast at the township building, then commence with the first part of the exercise, then reconvene for lunch.

Cottingim also updated the board on plans for the solar eclipse expected on April 25 of 2024.

“We’ll probably be holding partner meetings in the December timeframe,” she said. Cottingim noted, the entirety of Preble County will fall under the eclipse, but looks to get ahead of the event by planning with partner agencies in December.

EMA and the Preble County Sheriff’s office are working together to pursue a series of state grants which would provide the departments with new radios, as current radio equipment is nearing its expiration date, according to Cottingim.

Cottingim is actively organizing the mandatory NIMS training for elected officials, a program which requires authority figures to know basic life-saving procedures in order to receive certain grants and funding.

Cottingim also announced the completion of the Stop the Bleed training, and added they have acquired 200 Stop the Bleed kits for Preble County. These kits can be kept at schools, in law enforcement vehicles, and other such public facilities.