BOMA/Chicago Preparedness Committee Meeting Recap: June 15, 2021

Below is a summary of what was discussed at the BOMA/Chicago Preparedness Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 15th. The meeting was hosted by Ron Tabaczynski (BOMA), Erin Belknap (Sterling Bay), and Tom Henkey (Titan).

The meeting included members of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD), Chicago Police Department (CPD), Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Metra, and ChicagoFIRST.

Appreciation for Longtime Member Martha Meegan

• Committee leadership expressed appreciation for longtime member Martha Meegan, who is retiring from ChicagoFIRST at the end of the month. Martha previously served in safety roles with Columbia College and the SCOPE association.

Downtown Re-Occupancy

• Ron provided a commercial building re-occupancy update on behalf of BOMA/Chicago, noting that the process had accelerated significantly;
• The holidays seem to be used as markers for individual tenants.

COVID-19 Update

• Tom provided a brief update on the COVID pandemic, noting the statewide Phase 5 recovery status and a positive test rate of less than 1%.

Public Sector Updates:

CFD:

• Fire safety director courses will be returning to live and in-person formats soon;
• Fire drills have also resumed in commercial highrise buildings.

CPD 1st District:

• The new acting commander of the District is Sheamus Mannion;
• Crimes stats are up slightly year-to-date;
• Motor-vehicle thefts stand out with significant increase;
• 12-hour shift staffing in place for CPD through the holiday weekend.

CPD 18th District:

• Reporting similar trends to 1st district;
• Beach attendance has also increased over the past two weeks.

OEMC:

• Monitoring Father’s Day and Juneteenth activities over the coming weekend;
• Additional operations center staffing in place;
• A reminder that commercial and residential exterior cameras can now be linked to OEMC.

DHS/CISA:

• Malware/ransomware best practices have been updated;
• Information was distributed to Titan emergency planning Clients last week.

Metra:

• Metra provided an update on their Multimedia Analytic Center (MAC) and a recent BOMA Preparedness Committee leadership visit. Various safety flyers and takeaways have been emailed to committee members.

Additional Information:
The highrise all-hazards, life-safety conference is planned for October 7th and October 8th;

• Sponsored by the CFD and held at Willis Tower;
• Hybrid format with 250 in-person public and private sector attendees;
• The intent is high-ranking speakers and free to attend;
• Materials have been emailed to committee members.

The BOMA Preparedness Committee will soon return to live, in-person meetings, with September, suggested as a target;

• Members also anticipate an “open” meeting and a tabletop exercise to be held this year.

Next Meeting:

• The next meeting is scheduled for July 20th, 2021, and held via Microsoft Teams.

As always, if you “See Something, Say Something.” For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. To report suspicious activity, call 855-RPRT-2-S4 (855-777-8274).