After 10-plus years, Dunbar's emergency operations plan is getting an update.
City Council members approved an updated draft of the city's emergency operations plan during its Monday night meeting.
"The updated plan includes contacts, emergency routes and a variety of disaster response plans detailing what each city department's role would be in handling such a situation," Dunbar Fire Chief Butch Ellis said.
It's key for each department to know their role and have a reference like this plan when responding, Ellis added.
"You need to have a plan," Ellis said. "If you don't have a plan, you plan to fail."
Dunbar Mayor Terry Greenlee agrees the update is much needed.
"If you look around at all the disasters that have happened, [Dunbar] has dodged a bullet a few times," Greenlee said. "One of these days we're not going to be able to dodge that bullet and we are going to need an emergency plan.
"We have a chemical plant down the road, there's just a number of things that can happen, and we just want to be ready for them."
Some security sensitive information from the plan won't be in there, but other parts of the plan will be released to the public. The plan includes responses for floods, super storms, terrorism and industrial disasters.
"For just about anything you can think of, this plan will be our guide to address it," Ellis said.
Also on Monday, Greenlee talked to attendees about a business that is coming to Dunbar - Ollie's Bargain Outlet.
"You can buy clothes, tools, food, hardware, flooring, books - just about anything you can imagine, and it's all at a discount," Greenlee said of Ollie's. "[The store] will do great."
The discount outlet will occupy one parcel of the vacant lot by the Dunbar Toll Bridge. Construction is set to start in October with the company eying a spring opening.
Greenlee is unsure of the store's staffing needs.
"But they will be doing some hiring and there will be new people in Dunbar," Greenlee said. "Any new business we can bring to the community is great, and we're working on a neighbor for them but there's a process you have to go through."
Council also approved the first reading of a change to the city's building and housing code. The change will keep the city's code in-line with the state of West Virginia, which adopts its codes from the International Code Council.
"Every three years, the ICC will take all the new products, building methods and materials and review them to incorporate or not," Building Inspector Hugh Leishman said. "It's the best and safe practices - it incorporates every aspect of the building."
There are not a lot of big changes every three years, though, Leishman said. Mainly the changes concern electrical, fire safety and energy efficiency, he explained.
"Energy efficiency is a big thing right now, there's a whole code book on energy efficient materials and building practices," Leishman said.
In other news, council:
n Approved $5,000 to be allocated to the city's volunteer-driven Beautification League.
n Approved trick-or-treat from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 31.
n Updated citizens on the new sound system for council chambers; the system will be ready by the next council meeting.
n Approved Sept. 6 meeting minutes.