Aledo City Council prepares for the worst

The residents of Mercer County have survived wide-scale flooding and ice storms and just this year, extremely cold temperatures, and survived all of those.

Still, it never hurts to have a plan.

Nicole Gaza from the Mercer County Health Department presented the Mercer County Disaster Recovery plan to the members of the Aledo City Council at its March 17 Committee of the Whole meeting.

The MCHD has received numerous grants to help the department develop the plan and has started distributing it to local cities and towns.

The plan covers topics such as protective measures and evacuation, migration, agriculture and business, health and wellness, environment, transportation and community living.

Following the presentation Aledo Police Chief Mike Sponsler told the council that neither he nor Aledo Fire Chief Dennis Litwiler could ever remember feeling as well prepared as they did after reading this plan.

Severed gas line

Interim Aledo Public Works Director Don Korns nearly had to resort to a disaster plan when a gas line was severed recently. They went to the emergency plan.

There was a police officer everywhere I could see," said Korns complimenting the APD.

APD Police Chief J. Michael Sponsler joked that he would much rather have his job than the one Korns had dealing with the severed line. "We worked well together."

"It was a horrible place to be digging," said Korns. "It was a difficult situation. I knew we were in trouble. We called for an emergency Julie. An emergency plan was set up."

Aledo Mayor Chris Hagloch noted that he was in City Hall at the time and while the staff was shaken they new who to call and what to do next.

Chief Sponsler told the council that the next "Drug Take Back" event was scheduled for April.