County welcomes new emergency management director

Chickasaw County recently welcomed Austen (AJ) Seely, who has been appointed as the Emergency Management and Homeland Security coordinator and is moving from the Cedar Rapids area to fulfill this position.His duties will vary widely.As an Emergency Management Coordinator, he is responsible for applying and maintaining grants for both state and federal resources. These grants allow the Emergency Management Agency funds to maintain their plans, programs and create new resources. Successful grants prior, have implemented a wide range of resources that the county now has available to help respond to emergency incidents.Other responsibilities include maintaining county-wide response resources and plans pursuant to Iowa Chapter 17A. During a disaster or incident, the emergency management coordinator is responsible for assisting collaboration and communication between various agencies that participate in emergency support functions.“I will also assist with resource acquisition for incidents from the local, state or federal level during incidents,” said Seely.For the complete story see the 2/17/2017 New Hampton Tribune.