Belton appointed EB Emergency Management head

By Ruth M. Lyon

Turley Publications Reporter

EAST BROOKFIELD – This town’s emergency management has a new head, and she is “rarin’ to go”.

Heather Belton, a three-year member of the fire department and an emergency management technician, responded a few weeks ago when Board of Selectmen Chairman Leo Fayard said he’d accepted the position of EMA head by default, and hoped a qualified and interested person would step forward.

Enter Belton, who met with selectmen Monday to offer her suggestions for effective and comprehensive emergency management for the town, and to listen to the board as members brought forward their concerns and suggestions for the position.

Jason Messenger had held the emergency management position until a year ago, when demands of his job led to a decision of the selectmen not to reappoint him; for the last year, Fayard has fulfilled the demands of the position as required, but not, he said, desired. “There are reports and other forms to be filed, and duties to be performed, but this is not a job I wished for. I’m pleased to pass it on,” he said Monday.

Belton said she feels she is equal to the position, and brings valuable managerial and grant-writing capabilities to the job as well.

She and the selectmen reviewed the demands of the position, including the need for cooperation with fire, police and emergency departments in other towns, as much as, she said, mutual aid has worked for years among fire departments.

Belton and the selectmen agreed that manpower and expertise might prove of more value than dollars in emergency situations. They also agreed that small towns faced situations not common to cities, as regards the inevitable filing of reports requiring information not pertinent to a town the size of East Brookfield.

Fayard expressed concern for what has been termed an inevitable quandary – that the people serving on such committees and involved in emergency planning tend to be fire, police and emergency personnel, who are already occupied when emergency situations arise. “I hope you’ll get some other people to become involved, he said.”

Belton responded that she had already considered these questions, and believed that communication within the community was the best approach. She cited the “Reverse 911” program as one which had proven to work well, and said she had already considered programs which could involve community and neighborhood members in maintenance of communication and interpersonal and inter-town interaction in an emergency situation.

The selectmen, describing the strong emergency management team in neighboring North Brookfield, offered praise for that group’s achievements in terms of equipment and readiness, but additionally the spirit of excitement and fellowship generated amongst its members. “The contagion of enthusiasm,” selectman Joe Fish remarked, “moves that group forward. Just being at one of their meetings is exciting.”

“I might even join the East Brookfield group as a volunteer,” said Fayard, “now that I’m not the chairman anymore.”

Questioned by selectmen as to time management, Belton, currently a full-time student, said she considered the position a priority at this time. “I’m busy and I do a lot of things, but I choose the things I do because I consider them important in my life in this town,” she said. Regarding priorities in the event of an emergency, she said that her position as head of emergency management would supersede her position as firefighter or emergency management technician, and that she had previously discussed her application for the job with assistant fire chief and EMT clinical director Paul Normandin.

The selectmen unanimously voted to appoint Belton to the post for one year.