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Regular City Council Minutes - 3/31/03 Page 20 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Chief Gasaway stated that this is the Department's third attempt to secure funds from this program, and reviewed the four (4) categories available, focusing on the category the Department felt most applicable to the Department's pursuit of additional personnel training and equipment to address potential community-wide mass casualty situations and ramifications of weapons of mass destruction. Chief Gasaway reviewed several guidelines used for day- to-day operations of the Fire Department emergency preparedness status, which were also included in the proposed Strategic Plan document. Chief Gasaway advised Councilmembers that the Department used the goals as a guide, realizing that the document had not been adopted as a governing policy by the City Council; but the identified goals and guidelines were reflective of the City's adopted Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Mayor Kysylyczyn emphasized that the City Council needed to determine their long-range plan for the Department; at which time grant funding could be sought to carry out any adopted strategic plan. Chief Gasaway reiterated that the grant application was for training and equipment for large-scale emergencies; of which the Fire Department becomes the primary provider of fire, rescue and medical emergency services, and the Department was simply attempting to be as prepared as possible. Chief Gasaway asked that the City Council clarify if they wished the Department not to pursue emergency preparedness to the best of their ability; a service he opined had been offered by the Department over the last thirty (30) years. Chief Gasaway estimated that each City department operated under a similar set of guiding documents for day-to-day operations and to achieve their respective goals. Mayor Kysylyczyn identified several larger county-wide agencies working toward emergency management