Luke Eckert, Duvall’s emergency management coordinator, briefed council on Nov. 18 about the city’s emergency‑management work over the past year and near‑term priorities.

Eckert said the Tolt Dam alarms are operational again. “The alarms are back online,” he told the council, adding they will be tested annually and silently tested weekly as part of a coordinated exercise schedule. He described a King County 4x4 search‑and‑rescue partnership that validated an alternate evacuation route to move people and supplies into and out of the city in a dam‑failure or major flooding scenario; the route is controlled access and would require agency coordination in an evacuation.

Eckert said staff expanded training (first aid/CPR for a majority of staff, cybersecurity training for non‑IT staff), improved PIO (public information officer) capabilities, and are participating in regional exercises. He described cybersecurity monitoring agreements with CISA and membership in the MS‑ISAC information‑sharing body and noted the city’s transition to FirstNet phones to preserve communications in outages.

On hazard mitigation, Eckert said a draft mitigation plan annex for King County — the document identifies city hazards and priority projects — has been submitted to and preliminarily reviewed by FEMA; adoption should make Duvall eligible for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC/RIC) grants. He asked council to expect future agenda items to adopt the plan and pursue grant opportunities.

Council discussion highlighted exercises, AED placement at Big Rock Ballpark and training for park users, and community outreach to increase public preparedness. Eckert said many outreach activities are underway and that staff will continue to refine evacuation, alerting thresholds and interagency coordination.