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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Special Meeting_09/06/2004~'<~~ • MINUTES OF THE VII,LAGE COUNCII. EMERGENCY MEETING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2004 I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Village of Tequesta Village Council held an emergency meeting following Hurricane Frances at the Tequesta Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Public Safety Facility, 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Monday, September 6, 2004, to hear reports of damages. The meeting was called to order at 3:00 P.M. by Acting Village Clerk Betty Laur, who attended the meeting by telephone. A roll call was taken by Acting Village Clerk Betty Laur. The following elected officials were present: Mayor Pat Watkins, Vice Mayor Geraldine Genco who arrived at 3:02 p.m., Councilmember Russell J. von Frank; Councilmember Edward D. Resnik, and Councilmember Jim Humpage. Also in attendance were Village Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., Assistant Village Manager Bob Garlo, and Department Heads. II. REPORT OF DAMAGES FROM HURRICANE FRANCES i Mayor Watkins announced this follow-up meeting had been set before the hurricane in order to have updates. The Mayor thanked everyone for a wonderful job during the storm and expressed her appreciation for the Village being in good hands. Village Manager Couzzo commented he had been in the EOC since Friday, and reported the Village had suffered a lot of tree damage and power was out throughout the Village. Fire Chief James Weinand reported running on the board in the EOC was the EM2000 Tracker which was a report of all incidents in Palm Beach County. If Palm Beach County could not fulfill the requests, Federal and State also looked at this board. Requests were recorded in the proper order. The problem now was the supply train was so long in getting here because of the size of the storm. FPL was not having a lot of trouble getting here, it was just taking a long time. There was a 100% power outage in the Village, and the Village was without sewage, which was critical to get running. The water supply was diminished because of the number of wells in the field and pumping was difficult without power. Because of lowered pressure, the water was shut off during the night to have more in the daytime, and a generator was running the plant. A second generator had been requested. There was enough diesel fuel to last through Thursday. They had tried to get more diesel before the storm, but it was unavailable. Chief Weinand reported the backup systems were keeping the Village alive, and satellite feeds were now the method of communication. Cable • and phones had been lost. Repeaters on Beach Road went down, but all backup VILLAGE COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING September 6, 2004 Page 2 • systems were working. The media was going crazy with inaccurate information and every city was complaining about that. The County had a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and Tequesta's curfew was 7 to 7. Injuries had been minimal. The Chief reported when the eye of the storm came they had transferred some people, and there had been more injuries after the storm than during it. Police Lt. Mike Morrow reported the Police Department had been working with extra staff throughout the storm and managed to get through the storm without problems. 707 Beach Road was restricted and the National Guard came but would not let anyone in, and Tequesta police would let in Tequesta residents. The 7-7 curfew was strictly enforced the night before. Several people had been removed from the town and were escorted outside of Jupiter. County Line and U.S. One power lines and power poles were down and several requests had been made to FPL to remove them and to get power to the water plant. Encon had been contacted about getting lift stations taken care of. Lt. Morrow concluded that the Police Department had operated well throughout the storm. Vice Mayor Genco commented she had driven up from Boynton Beach and major intersections were using cones to reduce traffic to one lane where lights were out, and police were directing traffic, which the Village might want to consider. • Councilmember Resnik commented he had gone to a number of intersections today where lights were out, and people were treating them as a 4-way stop and everyone had stopped and had been well behaved. Mayor Watkins expressed concern with the boil water order since there was a lot of confusion among residents who did not realize Tequesta was under a boil water order, and asked everyone to let people know water was to be boiled until further notice. Water could also be sanitized by adding 8 drops of chlorine or iodine per gallon. Councilmember Resnik asked if everyone had to boil their water, since he had only heard Seacoast Utilities customers had to boil their water, and stated his water did not get shut down. The Village Manager advised there had been breaks; it had been off during the night, and Councilmember Resnik must boil drinking water. The Mayor commented people should not use hoses to clean driveways but should help conserve water. Assistant Manager Garlo commented somebody would be in this lobby to answer questions from residents--everything from when power would be coming on to water distribution, and an updated notice would be on the website tomorrow. Village Manager Couzzo advised a written bulletin would be here also, and as soon as power came on phone calls would be switched to Administration and Administration staff would man the lines to keep the EOC number open for emergencies. The Village Manager commented a printed brochure would be • prepared to calm fears by dissemination of information, which could be distributed by Fire and Police from the Public Safety Building by tomorrow. The • VILLAGE COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING September 6, 2004 Page 3 water plant would be up, because that was high on the priority list. It could be a week before all power was up. A lot of trucks were coming but going through other storm damaged areas to get here. Debris was to be picked up tomorrow, and it was unknown if the other storm, Ivan, was coming here. Chief Weinand commented this building's generators would operate until Thursday and there were backup lines for 911 and dispatch, and there were only two outgoing lines. Jupiter was backing the Village up. Tequesta's big bank of phones was down. Councilmember Resnik commented on boiling water that he had never heard on the radio any locations needing to boil. Vice Mayor Genco responded that had been on the radio and only Palm Beach County Utilities customers did not have to boil water. Chief Weinand advised they were now getting that information out. • Village Manager Couzzo announced the next day regular shifts would be worked except police would be loaded. The Village Manager advised other duties would be found for employees who could not get to their own work. Councilmember von Frank asked when the budget hearing was to be held, to which the Village Manager responded possibly Thursday. Acting Village Clerk Laur advised she had been in touch with the Department of Revenue who advised that date was not available because the Board of County Commissioners met that day, and the budget hearing could not be held on a date when they or the School Board had meetings scheduled. Discussion ensued, and the result was that the first budget public hearing was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 16, and the second budget public hearing was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 30, 2004. Councilmember Humpage commented he would like staffto notify the news media to keep the public better updated on Hurricane Ivan, and asked if the Village had any criteria they had to follow, since this was costing about $1,000 a day, and if filing had to be done with FEMA to get reimbursement. Village Manager Couzzo commented that would be done and all hours would be tracked. Chief Weinand advised the Village was eligible for Category A and B FEMA reimbursement now which was personnel that was covered, and whether group 3 . would go into effect, which was buildings, was not yet known. Councilmember Humpage asked for confirmation that the biggest problem with water was there was plenty of water but the tanks could not be filled. Roy Fallon, Water Plant Manager, commented when demand exceeded capacity the water plant could not keep up. At some point without totally draining the tanks, it had to be turned off so pressure could hopefully be brought back in the morning for people to use it. VILLAGE COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING • September 6, 2004 Page 4 Vice Mayor Genco asked that at the Council meeting on the 16"' the Council be provided with an idea of projected expenditures resulting from the storm, and she was advised the Council had established a reserve of $1 million for this type of situation. Village Manager Couzzo commented information would be disseminated to the public and asked if there was any interest in putting an ad in the Jupiter Courier on Wednesday to get the greatest coverage. This could just be a short notice about water, traffic, who to call, distribution from Roger Dean Stadium, a bit of briefing on Ivan--to be vigilant and alert--etc. Village Manager Couzzo commented this would be done. Councilmember Resnik asked this be also published in Hometown News. Chief Weinand cautioned that using Roger Dean Stadium as a distribution center was not yet up and running and was not published information--now the PGA courthouse was being used. • Councilmember Humpage asked what would be done about water. Village Manager Couzzo commented that after this meeting he would put in a call to the Village Attorney to clarify the Village's ability to get water from Jupiter. Village residents would still be under a boil water order; the issue was capacity since pressure had dropped to 20 psi. Mr. Fallon explained water from the plant was not contaminated. Councilmember Resnik asked how long he thought water would need to be boiled. Mr. Fallon responded, 48 hours--that the Village lifted the boil order by contacting the Health Department, and it was just a precaution if pressure dropped to or below 20 psi, since there was a possibility of contamination. If pressure could be constantly kept at 20 psi or above, the Village would start bacteriological testing, to determine if the boil order could be lifted. It was decided not to announce another meeting at this time. III. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Genco made a motion to adjourn at 3:30 p.m. Councilmember Humpage seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5-0 vote. Respectfully submitted, ~~z~ . Betty Laur Acting Village Clerk •