Coping with the recession has absorbed most people’s energy for the past year, but looking beyond the immediate crisis is always smart. The city of Coos Bay is being prudently proactive by negotiating a financial relationship with the would-be developers of a liquefied natural gas terminal.

As we noted in this space six months ago, local citizens and institutions have little say in whether an LNG terminal gets built on our North Spit. Federal officials and market forces will decide for us. So, rather than fruitlessly debating the pros and cons of the issue, our communities need to focus on preparedness.

For instance, planners need to be ready for construction traffic to and from the site. Police and social services agencies need to talk about how they’ll deal with an influx of construction workers. Education officials need to research whether similar projects have caused short-term enrollment bumps at school districts elsewhere, and how those districts dealt with the issue.

For Coos Bay city officials, the key issue was paying for training, equipment and wages associated with preparing for a possible LNG accident. Appropriately, Jordan Cove Energy Project has agreed to reimburse the city.

At a meeting this week, one council member asked about plans for evacuating schools in the event of an emergency. It’s a good question for our local school districts to explore.

The chance of a large-scale LNG accident is remote, and even the project itself remains very much in doubt. But no one ever regrets  obeying the Scout Motto.

City officials emphasized this week that the agreement with Jordan Cove is not an endorsement of the project. That’s a key point. People shouldn’t interpret preparation as a sign of approval. Whether this project comes to us or not, we need to be ready.