County officials discuss emergency declaration process

On Dec. 23 - just days away from Christmas - a travel emergency was declared for Pulaski County due to a snowstorm that blew into the county. The county commissioners and Sheriff Chris Schramm briefly discussed the county's overall response to the storm and the emergency declaration. President Chuck Mellon explained that the emergency declaration conversation also includes the emergency management director, but this time the EMA director was not on staff yet. The commissioners recently approved Richel Fox to be the EMA director, taking the spot of former director Sheri Gaillard who resigned late last year. Mellon thanked Andrew Pesaresi along with individuals from the state and district level for their help and effective communication. He went on to say that due to the vacancy in the EMA position, he needed help accessing the form to turn the county red on the travel advisory map and those individuals assisted with that. Overall, he stated that this time it was a slightly different process than normal, but he is grateful for the help from the local, district and state people as well as sheriff Schramm and highway superintendent Gary Kruger.