Huntington board OKs disaster plan policy changes

The Huntington Town board has voted unanimously to adopt 33 recommendations for changes in town procedures and policies in the event of a natural disaster. The action followed a report released this week by a town task force that analyzed Huntington’s response to superstorm Sandy.

Recommendations in the 78-page report include providing annual staff training in the National Incident Management System, updating antiquated computer operating systems and having separate time sheets for staff working in the town Emergency Operations Center.

“It should be normal operating procedure to commission a review after a major disaster in order to basically review the different components of an emergency plan,” Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said Wednesday. “It would be unusual if there weren’t things that needed improvement.”

The Hurricane Review Task Force was authorized in February by the town board to review and critique the town’s actions during Sandy. The recommendations were incorporated into the town’s All Hazards Emergency Operations Plan, via a resolution sponsored by Petrone at Tuesday night’s town board meeting.

In other action, the board approved the rezoning of the 1.7-acre Sunny Pond Farm on Park Avenue from residential to office residence. The change allows the creation of a campus comprising historic structures that would be renovated on the inside and repurposed as office or residential space. The idea is to allow historic buildings in danger of being demolished to be relocated from other parts of the town.

“This provides an economic development opportunity and it provides housing at the same venue,” Petrone said.