Monona committee approves participation in Wisconsin Task Force 1 for emergency response

The City of Monona Finance and Personnel Committee voted April 6 to authorize staff to participate in Wisconsin Task Force 1 (TF1), a statewide emergency-response task force coordinated by Wisconsin Emergency Management.

A committee member explained TF1 brings together personnel with specialty capabilities—such as vehicle extrication and other disaster-response skills—and can deploy small teams to incidents in Wisconsin and occasionally elsewhere in the United States. The staff explanation emphasized that participation provides training opportunities and mutual-aid response capacity.

Committee members asked whether the city would incur payroll costs when staff deploy. Staff said the deployment costs are covered through FEMA and Wisconsin Emergency Management and that, at worst, the city would be reimbursed for salary and backfill costs; staff noted there also may be direct funding rather than reimbursement in many cases. A committee member added that reimbursements can include backfill costs when a staff member is removed from regular rotation because of deployment.

A motion to approve the resolution authorizing the contract was made, seconded and carried by voice vote. The committee recorded 'I' from members present and advanced the resolution for execution.