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HomeMy WebLinkAbout614 - MINUTES - City Commission MINUTES OF SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION HURRICANE FRANCES . MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2004 1. Call to Order Mayor McElyea called the Special Meeting to order at 11:05 a.m. Present: Mayor: C.K. McElyea Vice Mayor: Robert Mikes Commissioner: Bob Anton Commissioner: Robert Chunn City Manager: Ivan Pato City Attorney: Thomas Ansbro Also Present: Police Chief Bryan Cowart, Fire Chief Ken Land, Director of Human Resources & Risk Management Mary McDonald, Public Services Director Fernando Vazquez, Director of Parks and Recreation Kristen Jones, Community Development Director Larry Leeds, Finance Director Patty Varney Absent: Commissioner: Patricia Flury City Clerk: Louise Stilson 2. Discussion Vice-Mayor Mikes requested a report from staff with regard to Hurricane Frances and how the City is being prepared for the coming of Hurricane Ivan. City Manager Pato reported the current staff has been a "hands-on team" and has been here for the past 72 hours or more. At one time, 80%of the City was without electricity, and for a certain period of time the Dania EOC was out of power as well. We have a live EOC telephone line for citizens to obtain information regarding the storm. The Beach has taken quite a beating, and clean up will begin shortly. We have experienced problems with the Lift Stations. Fernando Vazquez, Director of Public Services, reported at one time 90% of the Lift Stations were not operational. We moved the generator we borrowed from the City of Hollywood from one location to another, in order to operate the stations in rotation. We did not have to shut off water during the storm. The City requested 2 generators from the EOC: we will have one on Minutes of Special Meeting 1 Dania Beach City Commission Hurricane Frances Monday, September 6,2004— 11:00 a.m. • Tuesday, and anticipate having the other prior to the next storm. He reported that Lift Station 7 is off and is being bypassed. Vice-Mayor Mikes requested whether we could rent the generators for a month or so. Vice-Mayor Mikes motioned to approve the acquisition of 2 generators, size and capacity to be determined by staff, to serve the Lift Stations; seconded by Commissioner Anton. The motion carried on the following 4-0 roll call vote: Commissioner Anton Yes Vice-Mayor Mikes Yes Commissioner Chunn Yes Mayor McElyea Yes It was noted that Waste Management resumes regular pickup today. Commissioner Anton indicated that citizens were told not to take garbage out, however, garbage trucks did come by on Friday morning and a lot of people did not bring out their garbage and trash. Commissioner Anton indicated that we must have better coordination with Waste Management. Fernando Vazquez responded that because the storm was stalled, the City requested that Waste Management pick up as much as possible on Friday morning. Commissioner Anton requested that something be done with the current debris before the arrival of Hurricane Ivan. Bulk trash and yard waste will resume for pick up by Waste Management on Wednesday and should finish by Friday. Commissioner Chunn requested whether we can open the yard again for our citizens to dispose . of trash, Fernando Vazquez indicated that our dumpsters are currently full. Vice-Mayor Mikes indicated that it may be an easy way for citizens to bring the debris to the City's yard, and the City will organize to have Waste Management dispose of it. Fernando Vazquez responded he would look into it. It was noted that we will try to open the South end of the beach, but at least the Beach Grill area would be open today. The North end of the beach has more clean-up to be done. We lost production of wells G & H; we opened the connection with the City of Hollywood; and we are running at the normal water pressure. Mayor McElyea indicated we can run that with a generator. Fernando Vazquez concurred. Public Safety Chief Bryan Cowart, BSO, reported that Thursday was spent mainly performing mandatory evacuations of Mobile Home Parks and closing off the beach. Starting at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, we began running alpha/bravo (12 hr. Shift) and running 25-35 vehicles throughout the City, responding to downed power lines and non-operating traffic lights. Yesterday morning, we did a rapid assessment and faxed it to the Broward County EOC. We still have 3 major intersections without traffic lights. We will work with the traffic engineer to try to get those lights operational. Minutes of Special Meeting 2 Dania Beach City Commission Hurricane Frances Monday, September 6,2004— 11:00 a.m. ® City Manager Pato indicated we have great cooperation between BSO and the Fire Department. The biggest issue is that the storm kept stalling on us. The biggest demand for the Fire Department is from nursing homes, due to power outages. Fire Chief Ken Land reported rapid assessments were done within 2 hours, as soon as daylight appeared. Thy never stopped running calls as the wind did not get that high to stop the operation. Vice Mayor Mikes indicated that the City should consider a 4-wheel drive vehicle in the future. Commissioner Anton complimented the staff and indicated he noticed a lot of City trucks around, as well as BSO vehicles, during the hurricane. Commissioner Anton indicated that we have poor response from FPL. The problem at his street is mainly because of a fuse, however, no one shows up. He understands FPL has their priorities, but he wondered if we can engage someone or have some employees trained to pop fuses back in. City Attorney Ansbro suggested that perhaps the Florida League of Cities could contact Lynn Shatas of FPL, to address the issues of restoring power early. Vice-Mayor Mikes indicated there are liability issues. Vice-Mayor Mikes would like to see some of the trees saved, and asked if we can contact "Garden of Love"to perform it. Parks and Recreation Kristen Jones, Director of Parks and Recreation, reported that C.W. Thomas has a little roof damage; otherwise, all Park facilities are fine. I.T. Parker also has a few shingles off the roof. She thanked the Public Services crew for trimming the trees before the hurricane. Vice-Mayor Mikes indicated that the City should have tree trimming performed prior to hurricane season. City Manager Pato indicated that we will rewrite the Hurricane Preparedness Plan and incorporate the experiences we learned from this hurricane. Community Development Larry Leeds, Director of Community Development, reported that the Code Inspectors and Building Official went to all construction sites to make sure sites are in compliance with the requirements for the preparation of the storm. He commented we should investigate whether we are duplicating the efforts between the assessment done by BSO and the Fire Department, and City staff. City Manager Pato indicated some of his concerns regarding the City's EOC; communication level to the public; City buildings which are in trailers; and how to keep records in tack in those trailers, as well as records in the City Clerk's Office. City Manager Pato indicated that we will come up with a better way to provide service in a critical time, although we did great this time. Minutes of Special Meeting 3 Dania Beach City Commission Hurricane Frances Monday, September 6,2004— 11:00 a.m. • 3. Adjournment Mayor McElyea adjourned the Special Meeting at 12:43 p.m. CITY OE DANIA BEACH T,%'f",eL-, ATTEST: CX. IVICEL EA MAYOR-C MMISSIONER LOUISE, STILSON 'CITY CLERK APPROVED: September 14, 2004 • • Minutes of Special Meeting 4 Dania Beach City Commission Hurricane Frances Monday, September 6,2004— 11:00 a.m.