Thanks to all involved during water boil order

To the editor:

Due to the recent water main break, we would like to express our sincere thanks to our preparedness partners, including the administration of the Lincoln schools and the community leaders of Lincoln. A special acknowledgement is extended to the Lincoln Street and Alley Department and the Illinois American Water Corp.

Due to professional early notification from ILAWC employees Dave Schonauer and Karen Cotton, we were able to initiate the Logan County Emergency Operations Plan, including the Safe School Plan. Not only did ILAWC inform us about every step in their process to fix the water main break, but they remained very open to our questions and concerns. We give kudos to Mr. Schonauer and his team of professionals that we were able to partner with.

We would also like to thank Jean Anderson, regional superintendent of schools, who we awoke in the middle of the night and who went to her office to initiate correspondence to area schools to determine whether the schools would be open or closed.

To Tracy Jackson of the Lincoln Street and Alley Department, who received that same middle-of-the-night phone call and went in to prepare dump trucks and an end loader to disperse the water to our critical infrastructure, we also want to say thanks.

We want to also include a thank you to Mark Hilliard and the staff of the Logan County Department of Public Health, who quickly initiated phone calls to all of the schools, food prep businesses and health care facilities regarding the water main break. He and his staff continued to deal with numerous health-related questions and phone calls during and after the boil order.

To Puritan Springs, who was able to put their business and normal work schedule on hold to make the water distribution a priority, we give them a big thank you.

We thank the media sources, Comcast Cable and the National Weather Service for their prompt and continued support to the information-sharing process during the boil order.

At 9:15 that morning, it was a good feeling when Emergency Management Agency staff visited a local school, to see extra cases of water ready and a bottle of water placed on each child's desk. This would have been impossible if not for the preparation and community response by all of the parties.

In closing, we would like to thank county board chairman Terry Carlton and Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder, who kept in correspondence with us through the whole incident. To you, the citizens, who were able to endure a slight deviation from your normal activities and adapted well, we thank you.

Thank you,

Dan Fulscher, EMA director
Terry Storer, EMA deputy director
Mark Mann, 911 supervisor

[Posted March 27, 2010]