Monday December 20th, 2010

The holiday season is in full swing, and a small group met this monday night. Work finished on the staff room renovations, all ceiling tiles were installed, and the room was cleaned. The generator project continues on the Bucket Truck, with work progressing nicely. See pictures below of members working under the Bucket Truck.

Happy Holidays from Sharon Civil Defense Department!

Monday December 13th 2010

Another busy night at Sharon's Civil Defense Headquarters. Projects that were worked on this night were: Installing a new light over the bunk room in our staff room, putting up ceiling tiles in the staff room, and more work on the generator install in the bucket truck.

A custom venting system was welded and installed on the generator and then the generator was test fitted to the truck.

See photos below of the night's activities:

Captial Request FY12

Director Polimer meet with the Captial Outlay Committee on thursday to discuss the departments captial projects for the coming fiscal year. Also discussed was a joint effort for a new large steel building to hold DPW equipment. This new building would free up space in the existing building shared by CD and DPW.

The "old DPW building" would then become a joint building with the Police Department. This project would greatly increase the size of the CD's garage space.

Click the link on Captial Outlay Meeting, December 9th to stream. Or right click and save to download.

http://www.sharontv.com/gov_replays.html

Monday December 7, 2010

After the Thanksgiving holiday and some relaxing vacation the CD blog is back. Lots of work has progressed since our last post and this post will have the rundown of the events.

Work is progressing on our radio console project. The garage has been outfitted with a beam dolly and a new chain hoist. This was used this monday to lift the generator into the Bucket Truck. A small white board was installed in the entrance of the EOC. Work has begun on our staff room upgrades.

The staff room has had the light fixtures cleaned and installed all new bulbs. This week work has begun on replacing ceiling tiles. The next part of the project will be installing a new light fixture over our locker room area.

Generator mounts were fabricated using the same techniques and materials that were used in the generator install in the Utility truck. Holes were being drilled and a exhaust port was made using our plasma cutter.

See photos below of the progress in each project.

Monday November 15th 2010

Winter projects are heating up at Sharon CD garage. The utility truck is still being put back together. A external battery was installed to power up the new generator. The light rack was reinstalled in the bed to hold out 1500 watt flood lights and 1000 watt spot lights.

Our newly acquired bandsaw has had some issues, when using it to cut materials, the cut is not always square. This was investigated and needs further work.

The radio console project was is coming together and will be a great addition to our office/radio room.

Minor renovations will be starting shortly on our staff/squad room. Ordered materials are, new ceiling tiles, light bulbs, light covers, and a new shop light for over our locker area. With the addition of new windows last year, the room needs to be finished off with these new materials.

Emergency Generator Maintenance

Each radio repeater site for the Town of Sharon radios has an emergency backup generator. These generators will power the radio communications for the town if power were to go out. The generators were installed in 2007.

The generators run off a supply of propane that will last for many days.Generators run a test cycle every week to make sure they will power up in case of a power outage. Civil Defense is in charge of the maintenance of the equipment, which is done about every 2 years, with periodic checks throughout the year.

Both generators had their oil and filter changed, air filters and batteries checked. This maintenance was done successfully over the past weekend. See pictures below.

Picture from the Sharon Fire Tower looking east towards Boston, MA.

Monday November 8th 2010

A slow evening this week at Sharon CD. Members are in between projects this week and will be gearing up for winter projects next week.

Preliminary work has begun on the diesel generator install on the Bucket Truck. Layout lines and ideas for mounting brackets were discussed.

Last week, we did not have a blog entry but activities included our weekly round up meeting with Director Polimer, our monthly radio tests with other area CD/EMAs.

The Utility truck was run this past week for a few hours to break in the generator. Some 240v lights were used. See the pic below for a new mounting idea that was used. This mounting idea spurred buying hex head lag bolts that are now in each CD vehicle so that lights can be mounted on any surface using lag bolts.

Sharon Flu Dispensing Clinic

These past 2 weeks in Sharon, in cordination with the Sharon Board of Health, Civil Defense and the Medical Reserve Corps the town had given out flu shots or mist to residents. The clinics were are differnt sites around the town, targeting differnt populations for each dispensing site.

Civil Defense medical staff, Chuck Levine and Randy Vogenberg helped with set up, logistics, and Dr. Vogenberg helped with preparing the vaccine. They were also the liasions with the Sharon Police Department Officer's during the large dispensing site this past thursday at the Sharon Community Center. See pictures below of the events.

Monday October 25th 2010

A balmy night in southeastern MA this evening, it felt more like July than October. Wiring of the control panel for the new generator was completed. The panel was put into one of the truck boxes where the fuse panel is located. A bracket was fabricated and installed. We ran the generator for a while, putting loads on and off, 120v loads and 240v loads with our high powered lights. We found that the generator will not power anything off the 240v side on start up. This will be used in our generator starting procedures that will be instructed to the members.

The "over the air" tv antenna was again tested and the final a/b switch was installed so now the EOC is fully capable of the switchover if necessary. Members were given a lesson on using the new cable strippers and connector crimper.

A marker holder was installed on the new white board in the office. The holder was taken off the old chalk board and reused.

Our 1630AM dial up issues have not been resolved. Members once again tried to get the new phone system to connect with the radio station. This will be resolved soon.

Also members are helping the Sharon Board of Health the previous week and this week with their annual Flu clinic. Members help with set up of signs and logistics.  

Monday October 18th, 2010

An exciting night at the Sharon Civil Defense Garage. Our newly installed generator ran for the first time!! It was run late in the evening, and ran perfectly. There are still more work to be done, installing the exhaust pipe under the truck, mounting the remote start, hour meter in the cab and finishing wiring the 240v side of the generator.

Other projects that were completed was mounting our new white boards in the office and staff room. These boards replaced a old chaulk board in the office and a real slate board in the staff room. The slate board took 3 CD members to remove and carry out of the building.

During our office renovations last winter, CD members decided to install dual monitors to be used with cable tv and a computer. It was noted that during a storm, our cable system could go down, then not having acess to local tv news. It was decided to install a "over the air" tv antenna. This antenna was installed on our communications mast outside the EOC. The antenna was put up using our bucket truck and also using new tools that were purchased. The installiation went well and the tv's now can be switched to over the air tv if needed.

Also this night we had a guest not seen in many years. Cecil Horton, a long time friend of many members stopped by the garage. The picture below is Dir. Polimer and Traut showing Horton the newly installed generator.



CD Budget Presentation FY'12

Director Mike Polimer went before the Board of Selectman in Sharon this week to present the department's budget for the next fiscal year. See the link below to watch the video of the interview. Also Dir. Polimer tells the Board about Sharon CD's blog.

http://www.sharontv.com/video/SelOct12.wmv

Monday October 11th 2010

Sharon CD had a small group in attendance this week due to the long holiday weekend. Yet members were still productive as usual. Wiring of the generator on the Utility truck continued with new parts that were ordered last week.

A over the air television antenna is being installed to continue our office/communications room upgrades. The antenna will be placed on our communications mast high above the EOC. This antenna will give the ability to switch our multiple monitors to over the air tv rather than commercial cable. The project includes using new wiring tools and equipment. A mast mount was fabricated and will be installed approximately 30 feet in the air using the departments bucket truck.

White boards were ordered and delivered to retrofit the older chalk boards in our office and staff room. Wiring of our fax machine and the 1630 information radio station was completed. This was needed because of a town-wide change over to voice over IP phone systems.

And the last of the previous fiscal year's grant equipment was delivered to Sharon EOC. Delivered were 6 special needs cots. These cots are fold able, padded, have hand and side rails and also have the ability to hold an IV bag. They were purchased through the Sharon BOH/MRC through federal grant monies. The cots will be used for sheltering and a dispensing site. See the picture below.

Square Jam 2010 Review

Sharon Civil Defense Department participated in the annual Square Jam event in Sharon Center on August 12th, 2010. Members of the department provided lighting for the event, electrical logistics for the band and also set up our LEPC trailer. The trailer was set up and manned by the Sharon Medical Reserve Corps(MRC). See the previous post on the trailer contents.

Sharon MRC is a volunteer organization run by the Board of Health in Sharon. Both Sharon CD, BOH and MRC work in conjunction for various town wide events. MRC and BOH has received grant monies from the Federal Government over the years, and Sharon CD has facilitated the purchasing of equipment and supplies for events like Flu Clinics and sheltering.

See pictures below of MRC members manning the LEPC trailer and table.

Monday October 5, 2010

A cold and rainy Monday night in Southeastern Massachusetts this Monday night. Worked continued on the many projects at SCD. The generator began to be wired into the truck, our red portable power boxes were finished with carrying handles installed, a brainstorming session led to a good way to hang our battery operated strobe lights and we had a going away party for one of our members.

CD members enjoying pizza and beverages in honor of Sal Triolo leaving for Italy. He will be back in 45 days.

This is the working side of the generator panel. We are now retro fitting the old controls for the new generator. This involves removing a "step up" transformer and directly wiring the generator to breakers and the outlets of the truck.

Generator Installed!!

A rainy, windy friday made a great day to finish mounting the generator to the Utility truck. Dir. Polimer and Master Mechanic and Fabricator Traut moved vehicles around in the garage and used our chain hoists to lower the generator into the truck bed.

September 27th 2010

Work continues on many projects at the CD garage. Traut and Polimer continued on the generator install on the Utility truck. Mounts were made to attach the generator to the floor of the truck, and the cold air intake was mounted as well. The generator is now ready to mount to the truck next week.

A portable strobe light was attached to a battery pack. This test was for a new alert system to 1630 AM signs and other signs that would be deployed in an emergency. A mounting box will be used and this project will continue for a few weeks with mock ups and then faberication of 3 units.

In our weekly meeting a few items were discussed. Our annual budget was talked about and Dir. Polimer is meeting with the Selectman to approve the FY12 budget. Our captial budget for this coming year was also discussed. This was a great discussion with all members and it was decided to ask for a few items. The new town wide phone system was talked about with Deputy Zlotin and the group.

Contact Sharon Civil Defense!

We would love any of your questions and comments about our blog, department happenings and general information. Please email our Director, Mike Polimer @ polimermi@gmail.com with your questions.

CD members are always looking to increase our diverse membership. Stop by our HQ on Monday nights at 7 pm. Any other questions can be answered by emailing sharoncd@townofsharon.org.

Monday September 20th, 2010

A busy night again for CD members. Work continues on the generator installation project. New items were received and looked over.



An idea that CD members had a few months ago has started to progress. We looked at getting citizens attention to the "Tune 1630 AM" signs around town during a possible emergency. We decided that using small strobe lights that will be attached during an emergency would be the best option. These strobes are waterproof and will last many hours on a single battery. The first strobe was put on a sign in front of the CD/DPW/PD driveway. We will be installing the rest of the mounting screws around town soon.




Work continued on the generator install. Traut and Dir. Polimer used our extensive metal working equipment to cut sheet steel for an exhaust port.




Sign stands were purchased with federal grant money through Region 4A MRC. This is a great relationship between the Sharon Board of Health and Civil Defense. They were delivered and one was put together. They will be useful for any indoor space.



Also Civil Defense would like to congradulate the Sharon Police Department on their new promotions. Deputy Chief McGrath, Lt. Ford, and Sgt. Brewer.

Live Blog Post, Monday Night

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