Membership

Local and county emergency planning and response agencies have been actively working in the Union Pass area for several years. Their experiences led them to suggest that resident participation in related projects could significantly increase the scope and effectiveness of their efforts. To respond, a small group of residents met to consider the possibility of forming a grass-roots organization of property owners willing to help turn scattered ideas into coordinated actions.

After carefully listing what we accepted as broad objectives, we focused on the many ways in which projects of our choosing could be included within a single ongoing structure. The unanimous conclusion was that creating an area-wide council, open to participation of all residents, would probably be the most effective way to maximally contribute our resources and energies to support and supplement those of the agencies working in our behalf. Our vision became the “Union Pass Emergency Preparedness Council”.

We based our core operating philosophy on the convictions that:

1.) All participation be voluntary;

2.) The group not assume any activity that would involve enforcement powers;

3.) The Council initiative include all areas of Union Pass.

The actual organizational structure was then designed to promote accomplishment of both long term on-going and short term specific-goal projects, providing opportunities for active involvement of all interested full and part-time residents as well as those who own yet-undeveloped properties.

The Council is structured with an executive body consisting of three officers, each serving a one year term:

Chairman

Co-Chairman – intended to assume Chairmanship

Recorder

These individuals will be expected to meet regularly in order to become knowledgeable about the many aspects involved in emergency preparation and response, and to select and organize projects for general Council membership participation, open to any and all willing participants. Most projects and work will occur in summer and fall.

The UPEPC statement of purpose and objectives defines a unique and critical role that only we as property owners can fill. However, the success of achieving its potential rests with the willingness of all Union Pass neighbors to join in the work to create a safer mountain for our futures.