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BCC Minutes 09/06/2017 E (Hurricane Irma)September 6, 2017 Page 1 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Naples, Florida, September 6, 2017 Emergency Meeting - Hurricane Irma LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 12:00 p.m., in EMERGENCY SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Penny Taylor Andrew Solis Donna Fiala (telephonically) William L. McDaniel, Jr. Burt L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Leo Ochs, County Manager Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney Dan Summers, Director, Bureau of Emergency Services Mark Isackson, Director, Office of Management & Budget September 6, 2017 Page 2 MR. OCHS: Madam Chairman, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, I did that afterwards. See, Hurricane Irma got me all flipped around here. Welcome, everyone. It's a somber occasion that we're here. We're going to discuss this hurricane, Hurricane Irma. But at this point I'd like to stand, and I'd like to say maybe a little prayer. And, you know what, Commissioner McDaniel, could you lead us in a prayer -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'd be happy to. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- for this county, and then we'll say the Pledge of Allegiance. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: With me, ladies and gentlemen, Heavenly Father, remind us in these stressful times to be thankful for the many blessings that you bestow upon us. Help our first responders, help our leaders to make good decisions, and help our community as this natural disaster, in fact, comes through. In thy holy name I pray. Amen. With me, ladies and gentlemen. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) Item #1 COMMISSIONER FIALA TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING TELEPHONICALLY DUE TO EXTROARDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES – APPROVED CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And so I don't want everyone to be concerned, Commissioner Fiala was unable to come back due to the storm, but she is available by telephone. I believe she is already hooked into us, but we need a motion that under these extraordinary circumstances we will allow Commissioner Fiala to call into us. September 6, 2017 Page 3 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thank you, all. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Glad to hear you're there. MR. OCHS: Yes. Good afternoon, Commissioner Fiala. Thank you, Commissioners, Madam Chair. That takes us to Item 2 on the agenda this afternoon, and that is an update on the status of Hurricane Irma, and I'll turn immediately to your Director of Emergency Management; Mr. Summers. Item #2 UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF HURRICANE IRMA AND ITS IMPACT ON COLLIER COUNTY MR. SUMMERS: Commissioners, good afternoon. For the record, Dan Summers, director of your Bureau of Emergency Services and Emergency Management. And I, too, want to thank our responders in advance and thank our community. Our support's been very good and, as we know, it takes some time and some doing to ramp up, and we've been using the last September 6, 2017 Page 4 couple of days very effectively, and I feel very good about our schedule and activities so far. Let me give you a brief update, please. Obviously we're watching Hurricane Irma, which has fluctuated in some cases between a Cat 4 and Cat 5 hurricane event. At one point yesterday it was within a few millibars of breaking a nationally recorded -- or an internationally recorded record for the lowest barometric pressure. So it has some -- it has some teeth to this particular storm. We continue to see a west/northwest track. All of us have been watching the models. Right now I want to refer to some of these shifts to the right as a wabble, but we won't know that until we see the ongoing track. So, yes, there is a little bit of good news, but I'll explain in detail a little bit about the cone of uncertainty. We continue to see it moving west/northwest with some varying motion between 10 to 15 miles per hour. And this forward movement is really what is the most difficult part for us to forecast in terms of timing and how that relates to activities in the community. I'll tell you some more about that a little later on as well. As you know, Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Florida. All 67 counties were declared yesterday, and we do have a pre-landfall disaster declaration from FEMA and the White House. All of the counties in Southern Florida, both on the east and the west coast, have declared their local states of emergency and certainly work cooperatively with their school districts, et cetera. I want to just mention one thing about this potential storm, and one of the things that makes this entirely different, that over a decade, maybe two decades, this community has not experienced a hurricane event with any significant storm surge at all. Donna is really our storm surge of record. September 6, 2017 Page 5 Let's make sure everybody is clear with the understanding of storm surge. It's the push of water over land generated by wave and wind action. To put this in perspective, over a cubic yard of seawater weighs a ton. So when you start looking at a large amount of water being -- moving over land along with wave action, you've got a considerable force. Storm surge and flood waters generate the largest numbers of deaths. So as we look at storm surge potential or we start gauging our evacuation activity based not only on wind but storm surge, we hope folks will take those evacuation warnings seriously. This could produce significant storm surge. This storm right now is over 300 miles wide. If we're on the leading edge of the storm, that pushes more water. Even if we're on the backside of the storm, we could still bring storm surge into our bays. As a reminder, you know, if you're in a low-lying area, potentially if you're west and south of U.S. 41, and you have flood insurance, that's just a good way to understand you're at a storm-surge risk, and we'll hope you'll take advantage of that discussion. In terms of areas of concern, just to give you a little status as to where we are, we continue to strongly recommend a precautionary voluntary evacuation for those with the means to leave the area. That means going well inland to high ground. We know that there's some challenges with that based on the storm track. But, individually, folks need to evaluate their risk and think about least risk; how far can they travel? What destination? Do they have a destination? Okay. And making sure that they follow through on that particular plan. We are busy deploying the last phase of our assets and resources to make nine evacuation shelters ready. We'll announce those locations and their opening when it becomes necessary. We're also working on the last phases of our special-needs shelter. We've had a tremendous influx of last-minute registrations on persons September 6, 2017 Page 6 with special needs. My team is going to circle the wagons this afternoon and work very hard to see what we can do to expand capacity. But we want to encourage home-health agencies and others to try to find other alternatives for their clients other than a special-needs shelter. Special-needs shelter has very limited medical resource capability, and if they can work with family or friends or sister facilities, we highly recommend that folks try to find an alternate plan to special needs just due to the surge and the limited capabilities that we have. We'll continue to conduct news briefings and distribute news releases with public safety announcements and other evacuation information as it becomes available, and we'll talk about that timing here in just a few minutes. Our EOC is working quite well with all the municipal, county, and nonprofit partner agencies making final preparations. We have a partial activation this afternoon. We're going to bring most of our human-service agencies in as well as our municipal liaisons so that we can get an early start on any state resource request and work on sheltering and human-service issues support. We want to remind the public to continue to monitor social media; our internet sites, radio, television, NOAA Weather Radio. And please do not dial 911 for non-life-safety concerns. We will open a hurricane hotline for general information later today. But, again, leave those 911 lines for emergencies, and I'm sure the Sheriff will talk more about that shortly. We're ensuring that our contractors and response agencies are briefed and we're up to full readiness. We continue to have constant dialogue with the state EOC and FEMA as needed. Colliergov.net is a good place to get information, our Facebook and Twitter pages both from the county, Emergency Management, and September 6, 2017 Page 7 the Sheriff. And, again, our hotline will open today. That number is 252-8444. And just one other reminder, if you're going -- if you elect to go to one of our shelters when they're open, please bring the bedding, hygiene supplies, medicines, quiet toys, games, and food with you. We will have just the basic of services there in those shelter operations. Let me take you to a quick HURREVAC model. We'll talk about this just a little bit. This takes just a minute to load. Do you have a question or two for me now? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. Go ahead. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just what time, again, will the emergency number be activated? MR. SUMMERS: Twelve noon today. It is 12 noon. It's open at noon; open now. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Got it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Would you define "special needs" for the public? MR. SUMMERS: Yes, ma'am. The special-needs population are those individuals who have a couple of general conditions: Primarily that they are electrically dependent to sustain life; that they need electrical power, number one. Just because they're on regular oxygen or an oxygen generator, they may be okay. They could go to a general-population shelter. The other is that they have serious transportation challenges and that they're under the constant care of a caregiver. They may have some other medical devices or other medical situations that make them fragile but, in general, these are the individuals that have the least amount of resource and are electrically dependent. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Commissioner Fiala, any questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, none. Thank you. September 6, 2017 Page 8 CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And, Mr. Summers? MR. SUMMERS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You spoke about shelters. Is there any information available on pet shelters? MR. SUMMERS: Certainly. Let's talk about pet shelters just for a minute, and let me make sure we're on the right graphic here. Just a second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Are you multi-tasking? MR. SUMMERS: I'm trying. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. SUMMERS: The right hurricane might be helpful to show you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That was Jose. MR. SUMMERS: Yeah. I know. I wanted to get you to the right one. Let's reload that. In the pet-friendly shelter situation, it's been the Collier County policy for many years to have limited registration for a pet-friendly shelter at North Collier Regional Park. We now know that that's probably going to run out of capacity real quick. We're going to look at some options later today and tomorrow about pet-friendly shelter resources. The North Collier Regional Park pet-friendly registration is full, and we know that we don't want pets to hinder folks from evacuating. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Correct. MR. SUMMERS: So we're going to work on some problem solving with that later today for some options. But, again, family, friends, hotels that are pet friendly certainly provide a viable option at this point. We realize that we're short in that area. We're going to take a look September 6, 2017 Page 9 at some options, quite frankly. And, honestly, we have been a little overwhelmed with the surge both in special-needs registration and pet-friendly requests. Here's the tracking forecast for Irma. And if you'll notice today, of course, this is the second of two forecasts today that had a slight shift to the right in the center of this particular forecast track. What's very important for us to understand is that this cone, what we refer to as the cone of uncertainty, the cone is what we always do business with. In other words, the cone provides the average of those forecast tracks. The midpoint, if you will, is the dotted line that goes in between. So a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center will tell you that if the forecast track is plus or minus or left or right 125 miles, that's a bull's eye. That's the best we can do in terms of forecasting. So all of our actions remain on track. This storm is about 300 miles wide. The difference is that we may have less of a storm-surge event but still have a wind event. And, certainly, we'll take that option into consideration. I will always put a few extra hours of evacuation time in there just in case the storm increases in forward motion. And, typically, my planning is one category up. The waters, water temp -- water temperature in the Florida Straits is in excess of 84 degrees. So as this storm approaches the Florida Straits, there's a significant opportunity there for increase in magnitude of the storm. This particular model guidance that we use, the blue ring, the dark blue ring, is the radius of storm force winds. We don't work off the center of the storm. We work off the blue ring. So when the blue ring becomes -- starts to approach Collier County, that's the point where we want to make sure that we are all secured, hunkered down, and ready to ride out the storm. September 6, 2017 Page 10 So we want to put that well in advance of anything that puts us in tropical storm force winds. Any questions about that graphic? (No response.) MR. SUMMERS: Again, as this shaded area moves closer to the peninsula of Florida, you'll see more accuracy in the forecast, you'll see more accuracy in the intensity, and that will give me some more information about timing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And that's just -- as a point, when you do that, the timing is imperative for folks to be aware of because we're talking about -- when it gets over to that area, you're talking Saturday, Saturday night. MR. SUMMERS: That's correct. And I want to clarify one other component with you about timing. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Assuming it stays on its current speed and so on. MR. SUMMERS: That's correct. So based with that discussion -- and I have sort of said this is the point where I keep my resumΘ current. One of the challenges here is that there are two model runs in this discussion. One is the arrival of those storm force winds at Saturday 8 a.m., but the most likely will change that to -- I'm sorry. I'm backwards. There we go. The earliest reasonable time that the storm force winds may be here is Saturday morning. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. MR. SUMMERS: The most likely changes that to -- if I can get it to refresh. MR. OCHS: You've got it off. MR. SUMMERS: Whoop, there we go; changes it to Saturday p.m. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Right. September 6, 2017 Page 11 MR. SUMMERS: So where I'm going with this -- let me toggle that back and forth. Where I'm going with this is that the -- in my opinion and my estimation right now is that Saturday daylight hours is a good time presently, presently, for us to take a look at the evacuation discussion, okay. That includes special needs and general population. The last thing we want to do is shelter too early. We don't want to get our crews and limited resources in an extra day early if we can possibly avoid that. So we're looking at some of those wind timing models. So let me move forward. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: While you're -- can I ask another question? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Sure. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Dan, while you're going there -- and I know it gets Terri going when I talk over somebody, so forgive me. You brought up the issue of shelters multiple times. And I think it's a good discussion point for us to have sooner than later with the availability of these shelters. The evacuations are already starting on the east coast. This morning when I was in Immokalee for the Chamber of Commerce meeting, I thought that I was going to be able to hit the fuel station and get fuel for my truck and everything would be fine because it's Immokalee. It was a half mile long on the line down 29. People are flooding in to our side who need assistance from the other coast. As this storm track gets more specified, our capacity to be able to assist -- it's not just -- I mean, shelters, of course, are for us; they're for everybody, though. They're for people that are having to be evacuated. So I would really like for us to roll up the plan for rolling out the shelter availability to be able to help not only our own residents but September 6, 2017 Page 12 also those evacuees that are coming here from where the storm, in fact, is going. MR. SUMMERS: Sir, it's a good point. And what -- we refer to that is being a host shelter community; in other words, when the folks have to come here. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: They're here. MR. SUMMERS: We understand that. That is very much part of our planning process. I have sought additional manpower from the National Guard to help with the shelter operations, which is rather unusual, due to the limited Red Cross resources here. So I have that in part of our plan, and that one will be closely coordinated with the state and the other counties. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And the point being, just every effort that can be made should be made to assist all of the residents of Florida. If we are blessed that this storm doesn't track straight through Naples, we certainly can't keep our doors closed for those that are in need. MR. SUMMERS: One of the things that makes Florida Emergency Management quite good is our interagency and intercounty coordination. We're communicating and coordinating with each region twice a day. So we're supporting our partners just as we would ask them to support us. So where are we at this point? Our request is for the Board of County Commissioners to declare the local state of emergency that has been drafted and placed in front of you. There's a second component of that which is a very routine budget resolution that we typically do. There's also some debris removal action. And I know you want to take these individually for discussion, but I'll move forward and just say that one of the things that we would like -- thank you, Leo. One of the things that we would like to do is allow you to give the County Manager the authority, based on the September 6, 2017 Page 13 timing of this storm, to implement the evacuation measures. I will share and coordinate those. Mr. Ochs will talk a little bit more about those processes. And, of course, as we always do, we have -- thank you -- we have very close coordination within the municipalities in that discussion. So, Mr. Ochs, if you'd like to talk a little bit about that process. Item #2 THE COUNTY MANAGER AND SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT THE ABILITY TO MAKE EMERGENCY PREPARATION DECISIONS WITHOUT BOARD APPROVAL – APPROVED MR. OCHS: Yes. Thank you, Dan. Commissioners, because of the timing of the opening of the shelters, we would like the authority, working with the Chair and also with Dan and the Sheriff, to make that determination without having to call the full board back into session. That would be my recommendation to this board. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Do you want a motion? MR. OCHS: Yes. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Let's do it. I'll make that motion. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's a motion on the floor and a second to allow the County Manager to work with Mr. Summers and the Chair to -- MR. OCHS: And the Sheriff. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- and the Sheriff to move forward through this storm and to address the needs at the time without having September 6, 2017 Page 14 to go back to the Board. All right. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Basically. MR. OCHS: That would be great. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Then, County Attorney, with regard to the actual resolution adopting the state of local emergency, could we get a separate motion for that -- MR. KLATZKOW: Yes. MR. OCHS: -- Madam Chair? MR. KLATZKOW: A separate motion on all of these items, actually. The declaration of emergency, by ordinance, will be for seven days with the ability to extend it for an additional seven days. Item #3 PROCLAMATION/RESOLUTION 2017-144: DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR SEVEN DAYS FOR ALL TERRITORY WITHIN THE LEGAL BOUNDARIES OF COLLIER COUNTY INCLUDING ALL INCORPORATED AND UNINCORPORATED AREAS – ADOPTED COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I'll move that we adopt that declaration -- September 6, 2017 Page 15 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- or resolution. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any discussion? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Second. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Third. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: There's a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Item #4A RESOLUTION 2017-145: DECLARING A PUBLIC INTEREST AND NECESSITY IN REMOVING DEBRIS CAUSED BY HURRICANE IRMA ON OR ADJACENT TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ROADS THROUGHOUT COLLIER COUNTY – ADOPTED MR. OCHS: Thank you, Commissioners. That takes us to Item 4. We briefly -- Dan briefly touched on the resolution having to do with the debris mission. Essentially, this resolution helps us, if need be, in our petition to September 6, 2017 Page 16 FEMA for federal assistance for our debris-removal mission, especially as it relates to removal of debris from private roadways and gated communities. That has been an issue in the past, and we want to take every action that we can proactively through this resolution to put ourselves in the best position in that application to FEMA. So I'd ask for a separate motion to adopt this resolution. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: So moved; I'll make the motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Do we have a second? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Item #4B LAW ENFORCEMENT/PROTECTIVE SERVICES MR. OCHS: Thank you very much. Commissioners, at this point I'd like to move to 4B -- that's a discussion on law enforcement and protective services -- and ask Sheriff Rambosk to make a few comments. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Good morning, Madam Chair, September 6, 2017 Page 17 Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. As you've heard from the director -- and I believe in his experience completely. I just don't trust Irma as we look at planning for the future. So just a little bit about where we've been over the last five days. We have made connection with all the municipal police departments, fire rescue departments. We have implemented our ramp-up procedures. I will tell you that all of Collier County, law enforcement, public safety, fire rescue, EMS, and EOC, in my opinion, are planned and ready to execute today. The only thing that we have not done is gone to split shifts, which we will not do until we get to the last minute, and that is 12-hour shifts per day so that we don't wear anybody out. We want to get out as much information as is possible. We're working together with Collier County EOC. We have implemented our social media website called Storm Central. It went up yesterday. We will keep that as fresh and contemporary with information as is humanly possible with things that are moving very quickly. But that relates to the question about calling into 911 for information. We certainly have nonemergency lines which should be used, and we're getting out information to the public on that. But today with smart phones you can go right to our website and you can get the most contemporary information, even in a portable manner. So that would be our first recommendation. The capacity for evacuation, that's a tough one. We've been going back and forth on that. Yesterday we gave as much information as we could to people to make their own assessment about their own types of property, their low-lying area, how -- whether they're senior or not, what help they need, special needs, even contemporary homes. You know, if you're not at a Category 3 or better, and most homes are not in Collier County, we suggested that you look at making a decision to September 6, 2017 Page 18 move. Because what is beginning to happen -- and I heard it this morning when I got a brief -- on I-75 north from Sarasota north everything is bottlenecking, which is why we wanted to get our residents who chose to go on the road as early as possible. There are gas issues. Last night most stations in Collier County were out of fuel. They have been refueled overnight, but there are still long lines that are out there, as the commissioner mentioned to us. So we've got assistance there where we can. We've got assistance at Home Depots and Lowe's. They were a little out of control yesterday. We would ask the public to be nice to one another. We need to help one another today. So I know, very stressful for everybody, but we will get through it. Continued traffic; you know, if we look at some of these low-lying areas -- and I know we're not going to talk about any evacuation today, but I still have a concern when I look at that track, even though it -- as it is today, if it were to never change or even move to the east, I'm concerned for the Everglades area. And we'll be making contact. I know the Assistant County Manager has been in contact with the Interim Mayor there. We're going to provide all the assistance that we can all provide to them. But the bottom line is, they are going to get a lot of water, and they are going to get wind. We just can't tell them exactly how much. Every time I hear on the news about this being the worst storm ever, that troubles me. So -- and yesterday we tried to remind us all we may have been through a Category 1 storm, but this is a 5. And as I understand it, the difference between a 5 and a 1 is 500 times more impact. That's pretty staggering information, which is why we continue -- and we'll go again today -- if you feel uncomfortable and there's no reason for you to be here, get on the road, whether it be September 6, 2017 Page 19 inland to Collier County with friends or further north, as far north as you can possibly drive, up to and including out of state. And I will tell you that we checked bookings north on 75 through Georgia, and most were already filled, so keep going. Maybe North Carolina's nice, 70 degrees this time of year. So the best we can do is let you know what we know. As we're asking, we are going to begin putting out extra patrols into the neighborhoods as more and more people leave, and we may even come back to you on Thursday and talk a little bit about some time frames when we can look at closing down the streets to people and access. We've done it in the past afterwards with curfews. We have never done it prior to. But if we're going to ask you to leave, then I may ask you to consider a curfew prior to and put more deputies out in the street. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's a good thing. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Aside from that, we have had a great working relationship with everybody. I want to thank your staff, County Manager, and the director, and we will get through it. We'd just like some more defined information before Sunday morning. Questions? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Questions? Thank you. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I would like to make a statement. You brought up a very important point. I watched your -- the media -- or the press release that we did yesterday and that you were there, you know, and I would like to speak with Mr. Summers as far as accurate information being put out. There's a lot of sensationalization going on with the media sources. People are calling from all over the country talking about this catastrophe that's coming upon us. And I would like to caution folks to be weary of the sources of information -- where you're getting your information from. Make sure it's coming from a government facility September 6, 2017 Page 20 so that the sensationalization is kept to a low roar. And, Mr. Summers, you stay on the most likely prognosis of where, in fact, the storm is, not necessarily the earliest. That's -- there again, it's not that you can't disavow the potential of that, in fact, transpiring. It's just there's a lot of very upset and distressed people out there right now, and it's important that you rely upon accurate information as to -- to be able to make your decisions. Your comments yesterday, Mr. Sheriff, were spot on, and as -- similar to what you said today. If you have the opportunity and you don't have to be here, pack up, go on. This, too, shall pass. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: And I agree with everything that you said. And, obviously, working with the director, the best we can do for our residents is the most accurate and correct information from which they can plan what they're going to do, and that's what we've all committed to do. We've committed to do it together and speak as one so that there is no question -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Agreed. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: -- about what Collier County, what you and what our residents need to know and who they're getting it from. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Perfect. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Solis? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just a quick question. There was a conference call that the Governor held yesterday, and one of the things that he emphasized was that if there are shortages of any kind that we should notify his staff directly. And I'm just -- I know there's -- fuel was in short supply yesterday. I know it's been resupplied today. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Water. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And water. I mean, have we notified the Governor's office that we're experiencing that? SHERIFF RAMBOSK: We have not done that. Maybe Dan has. MR. SUMMERS: Sure. One of the things that we're doing with September 6, 2017 Page 21 the state twice a day is not only identifying having the state look at any retail or fuel shortages, the state EOC has assured us that those retail goods -- from the Retail Federation as well as the Fuel Association, that those -- that there is no shortfall. What we have done is we have piqued the demand. So the trucks are rolling. The trucks are going to continue to roll. It is not a supply issue. It is simply a distribution issue at this point, and the system will catch up. And that's the good news is that we have a day or two to allow that to catch up. But we have certainly peaked the demand; hence the draw and hence the shortage. We are also working, talking with the region on supplies and materials. The Publix and Walmart, they are absolutely spot on with the trucks coming back in. It's just this is just not the usual inventory draw on Saturday. So I feel comfortable that these things are coming and, as the Sheriff said, just be patient, and part of this is early preparedness. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I have a question for you, Dan, and then one for the Sheriff with regard to emergencies. So -- the volunteers for the shelters, did I hear you talk about staffing with regard to the shelters and their openings or their availability or places to contact for volunteers? MR. SUMMERS: There are two concepts. We'll be using the county employees, school district employees, to run the majority of the shelters. American Red Cross has only committed to one shelter, and that's Immokalee High School. That's an issue -- that's a national issue related to storm surge and hurricane shelter engagement. And I have additional National Guard staff. I do not have a system to set up volunteers for the county to run shelters. I think we have that covered with our combined teams or a team that we have -- already have other agreements with. Folks that do want to volunteer need to affiliate with a national September 6, 2017 Page 22 agency, Red Cross or Salvation Army, and now is the time to affiliate with those folks. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We don't take any volunteers through the county systems? MR. SUMMERS: Presently we don't. That was a program that we lost during the recession with coordinate -- with the volunteer donations coordinator. So that's a program that we've tried to do a little bit with with the resources that we have, but we do not have an active volunteer and donations coordinations program under Emergency Management, but we are working closely with a lot of the agencies that do. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Thank you, sir. And Mr. -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala? Oh, I'm sorry. You have a question? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER FIALA: You know, you did call me, right? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. I've had just a couple calls coming into my office from people who would like to volunteer on the phones, phone lines, or helping with the food distribution or whatever if that need arises. Is there -- so we're just keeping track of them. Is there anybody else that are getting these calls? And if so, we would have some volunteers right out there to help during any climatic events taking place. MR. SUMMERS: Commissioner, Dan Summers. To answer that question for you, we have adequate county staff to cover our phone banks, and we like to use that; that way we can be a little more assured of the hours of service. We can work that scheduling a little bit better with county employees. But, again, other volunteers affiliating with other agencies, that's certainly an option. September 6, 2017 Page 23 COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Of the Sheriff. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: This morning, Mr. Rambosk, I heard some discussion about the period of time for first responders' duties to be replying to requests for help about a -- could you -- 72 hours after the storm and that sort of thing. Could you explain a little bit with regard to that? SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Yeah. The only restrictions we really have are safety related, and that is when wind speeds are up to 40 to 45 miles per hour, we're no longer able to respond to emergency calls. And on the other end, when they go down less than that, we can go right back out. The dilemma that we're going to have and what we continue to let people know is that we have a very saturated community over the last several weeks. If we get Category 2 or 3 winds, we're going to have trees down all over the place. It is going to take us a long time to start cutting through to respond to, particularly, areas of the Estates down to Everglades City. Now, obviously, we have some aircraft that we can employ for that. But we will be out as much as we can be out and accessible except for that period of time when the winds get so high that our vehicles can't operate. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Just for the sake of repeating, if you would please say again, once the winds reach a certain point -- if you would just repeat that. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Right. Once the winds are 40 to 45 miles per hour, our vehicles are no longer permitted, by policy, out in the field, and that's typical of most emergency service agencies. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Also the ambulance and the fire departments. I heard the chief in Immokalee speaking about that. September 6, 2017 Page 24 That's the reason I wanted to -- SHERIFF RAMBOSK: I believe they're pretty consistent with what our policy is. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, sir. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Also, to talk a little bit about response from the community; we do have the ability to look at those who want to provide assistance. As a matter of fact, over the years I've been contacted by our residents who have boats and swamp buggies and other off-road vehicles, and they want to participate. So if we ever have a time when we could use that help, we will certainly invite them. We'll do a quick check of those individuals that want to participate directly. If they just want to provide vehicles, that's great, we can operate a vehicle, but should we need it, there are a lot of resources around here, and a lot of people have said that they're willing to help. And I think it would be a law enforcement responsibility, because of our ability to check backgrounds, to incorporate those individuals should they want to help us. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely. When you were talking about the winds and everything, I actually wanted to say out loud, I'll start cutting my way in from the east, and you work your way out, and we'll get the middle. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Anything else? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. SHERIFF RAMBOSK: Thank you. MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, if I may, that would move us to Discussion Item 4C, and that's a discussion on some of the budget and financial measures that we need to take at this time. I'd like to invite your Clerk of the Circuit Court, Mr. Brock, forward to explain some of the pre-storm actions that his office has taken to position us to be able to efficiently and rapidly respond to our needs. September 6, 2017 Page 25 CLERK BROCK: Very quickly, Commissioner. Commissioners, we've worked closely with the County Manager and, obviously, we have the ability to procure items that we need through the P cards. The problem that arises is when all of the electricity goes down, the P cards go down as well and, as a consequence, we have a supply of cash on hand and a supply of cash that is available from the bank once the event, the storm event itself, is over to deal with the issues. One of the things that I would like to point out is as a consequence of the declaration of emergency, a lot of controls that normally exist no longer exist because of the emergency situation. Those will be directed by the County Manager, and we work closely with them in that regard. We have people who will be in the emergency office out in Lely that will be available and working with all of the staff all during the time the funding is there. So we will have all of that available, and hopefully that will deal with the problems that might arise. In addition to that, I understand -- I see we have Chuck Rice here. Chuck? MR. RICE: Yes, sir. CLERK BROCK: Did not the judges cancel court in -- MR. RICE: We just announced we canceled court Thursday and Friday. CLERK BROCK: Come on. MR. RICE: For the record, Chuck Rice, Court Administration. Our Chief Judge, Judge McHugh, just announced we're closing court Thursday and Friday. We will also ask everybody to monitor local news, social media, for Monday and Tuesday if we're going to be closed or open. CLERK BROCK: Thank you, sir. MR. RICE: You bet. September 6, 2017 Page 26 CLERK BROCK: In addition to that, since we follow the court's calendar, the Clerk's Office is closed Thursday and Friday as well, only for court events. We will still have activity going on for the financial functions, the Board functions out at the disaster center, and we will be dealing with that there. One thing that I would like to bring to everyone's attention, since we have almost, I think, 6- or 800 summonses for jurors out this week, I'd like to bring to everyone's attention that, obviously, we will not be needing any jurors for the rest of the week, so you don't need to be calling your office about that. Just ignore the summons for the rest of the week. And thank you very much. I'll answer any questions you ask. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Questions? No questions. Commissioner Fiala, any questions, ma'am? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, no questions. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Mr. Brock. I'd like to call on Mr. Isackson to take you through a couple of additional budgeting issues. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you. Thank you, County Manager Oaks. Good afternoon, Commissioners. For the record, Mark Isackson with the Office of Management and Budget. I will echo Clerk Brock's comments, that my office, County Manager's Office, works very closely with the Clerk of Courts, especially as we begin to set out the resources that are necessary to combat this particular storm event. County Manager, would you put up the first resolution that the Board kind of glossed over during Dan's original presentation. This is a typical resolution that we normally prepare, and it includes some of the underlying components about waiving fees for convalescent transports, EMS evacuations, et cetera, et cetera, CAT September 6, 2017 Page 27 services and the like. We'd ask the Board to have a motion to adopt this particular resolution in light of the storm event. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So we need a motion? MR. KLATZKOW: What days do you want? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah, there's some blanks in the -- MR. OCHS: Again, that's something we would determine as we learn more about the timing of the storm event. We would probably do that in conjunction with any evacuation decisions that are made. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So how would the motion be presented? Item #4C RESOLUTION 2017-146: DELEGATING TO THE COUNTY MANAGER THE TIME AND DATES ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS FOR THE WAIVER OF FEE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES – ADOPTED MR. KLATZKOW: So the motion to approve with delegating to the County Manager the ability to pick the time and date for the waiver of the fees. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Second. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. September 6, 2017 Page 28 COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) MR. OCHS: Thank you. MR. ISACKSON: Thank you, Commissioners. There are a couple other matters that we go through as part of a protocol for a plan of financing an event of this nature. My office, in conjunction with the Clerk of Court's finance section, has already prepared some administrative BAs that my office can do setting up particular account codes and strings so that we can track these expenditures for purposes of reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the future. That has already been done. Second component of this is normally the Sheriff's Office will approach us asking for particular resources, primarily in the area of personnel to allow him to continue to function. He's asked for a budget amendment in the amount of $4 million, which will be moved from the General Fund to the sheriff's particular operating fund. And, eventually, as I go through all these, we can -- if the County Attorney agrees, we could probably handle that all by one particular motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. ISACKSON: The third component of this is a recognition of what I would term FEMA revenue. Now, we won't get FEMA revenue in probably for a good period of time after the event occurs, but it allows for the setting up of the budget at our particular activity areas and transportation and Public Utilities in our general governmental capital accounts, the amount of money that the -- that my office is recommending based on events that occurred during Hurricane Wilma is $5.9 million. We will set those up in particular BAs, move those monies to the particular capital funds, September 6, 2017 Page 29 and it will allow our particular operations to access those dollars as we prepare for the event and as we begin the initial aftermath in terms of cleanup. I will tell you that the majority of our expenses will be in debris removal, and I will also tell you that we spent over $30 million with Hurricane Wilma, and it took us about a year to 18 months to get reimbursed for most of those expenses. So this will be a cash flow initiative that we will accomplish through the Clerk's Office, through my office. The Sheriff's asking for his $4 million because he really doesn't have the capacity to cash flow that particular type of dollar value in his particular operation. So if we could get a motion to the effect that I've just mentioned. MR. OCHS: Authorize those budget amendments? MR. ISACKSON: That's correct. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Point of order. We do have an executive summary -- I'm sorry -- an executive summary specifically for the Sheriff as well as these budget amendments. County Attorney, should we do these separately? MR. KLATZKOW: It's up to the Board. Do them separately or by both. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I would prefer, only because of the way it's been presented to us. We have a resolution here with the budget amendments as Mr. Isackson listed, and then at the end we have an executive summary. So as a chair, I'd like to see this separated, if that's all right. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Just a quick question. Is the four million within -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: -- the budget resolution? It's an additional four million, or is it in -- MR. OCHS: No, it's not in this resolution. September 6, 2017 Page 30 COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. MR. OCHS: It's a $4 million draw on reserves. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay. Item #4C RESOLUTION 201-147: APPROVING THE LIST OF BUDGET AMENDMENTS AS OUTLINED IN THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – ADOPTED COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, I'll make the motion -- MR. OCHS: So the motion -- go ahead, sir. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- to approve the first portion of this, which is the list of budget amendments. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. I'll second that. Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. Item #4C PROVIDING THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE FUNDS AS NEEDED – September 6, 2017 Page 31 APPROVED COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: If you need a separate motion to approve the executive -- the request for additional funds for the Sheriff's Department, I'll make that motion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any discussion? (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All those in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Aye. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Aye. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Aye. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Aye. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Those opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It carries unanimously. Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you very much, Commissioners. That takes us to Item 4D, which is other considerations. I'd like to call on Dr. Patton, our Superintendent of the Public School System to make a few comments about the activities of the school district. Good morning. DR. PATTON: Good morning. Good afternoon. Thank you for having us here today. So Collier County Public Schools continues to work very closely with the Sheriff's Office, with your county government, and also your Emergency Management officials. They have been terrific. Everybody's been on the phone with us. Yesterday two and three times the four of us had opportunities to speak. I have to tell you, that's a big relief for us to know that all of us September 6, 2017 Page 32 are in this together, so just know that you've got awesome people with you here. So our thoughts are also with those folks in Texas from Hurricane Harvey, because we obviously know what they were going through, seeing that on television. But I do agree, like what the Sheriff shared with us, is that we see a lot more people mobilizing, asking us about schools and everything, too, because of that. So maybe we benefit from something like that. But because of our 47,000 kids, 7,000 employees, we decided to give our people enough time to get theirselves together, too, and then a lot of our buildings serve as the shelters, as you know. So we then decided to close school both Thursday, Friday of this week, and then we'll talk later this week about what we'll do with Monday, watching and tracking that storm. So we also added, today, to our website for our kids that there's a Keep Learning Alive Resources for parents and students, so we're pushing that out so that they could take a look before. And if they're evacuated somewhere away, they can still keep a little busy if they'd like. So following that, we'd just ask people to stay tuned in, like much of what you've heard, and to our social media channels as well as our district website. And I did get to speak with Dan about that need for the pet shelters. So we've -- the nice thing about communication, you don't have to be with your people. So we've worked that out in the back that we'll open one of the shelters, and he'll guide us through that process this afternoon, because I think, like you, we never want somebody staying at home because of a pet, and we knew that that North Collier shelter was already full. So happy to help out in that way. We'll figure that out this afternoon. So thank you guys so much for including us. And, again, you September 6, 2017 Page 33 have great people that we get to work with all the time on these emergencies. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. MR. OCHS: Thank you, Dr. Patton. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Any questions? Commissioner Fiala, do you have any questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes, I have a few. Not, of course, to ask Dr. Patton, but just some comments to make, if this is the appropriate time. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. Well, one of the things I notice that most everybody is kind of closing down for Thursday and Friday. I would hope that we're going to be doing that with the CCPC as well. I've had a few people calling me saying that so many people are out of town; they were hoping that the CCPC was not going to be meeting on Thursday morning. So I just wanted to make sure that they -- their meeting is also -- well, what do you want to -- what do I want to say -- delayed to another time. MR. CASALANGUIDA: We've gotten two commissioners that have left, already, the community, so we're down to five. The quorum, I think, is -- a requirement, I think, is five, Jeff, with the CC -- I don't think it's four. I think -- I've asked Jamie to give us a list of what's on the agenda, but it's probably a good idea to probably continue the items on that meeting and move it to another agenda. MR. KLATZKOW: Your primary issue is the Cirrus Pointe agenda. I know there was a time constraint with that for funding purposes. I'm not entirely sure what that will be with respect to the emergency declaration by the Governor, though. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: It's my understanding that there may be some movement on the part of Florida Housing to actually change that date. I know that they're looking into it right now. And, frankly, September 6, 2017 Page 34 because the entire state of Florida is under a state of emergency, I can't imagine that they would require it. But this is one commissioner talking. I know that there are -- Cirrus Pointe is calling up to -- up to Florida Housing about that today, and I haven't heard back. I'm concerned -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER FIALA: That's the same thing. The people that are concerned with the Cirrus Pointe, the residents in that area, of course, have left town, and they said that they -- you know, they wanted to be a part of this thing, the public part of it, and so they were -- they were really hoping that we were -- we would be delaying that meeting until we get past the storm. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Again, I think -- is it up to us to call off the -- MR. CASALANGUIDA: No, ma'am. We can do that administratively, and we can continue it, so -- MR. KLATZKOW: I mean, with board direction, we call it off. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. KLATZKOW: I mean, they're there to provide you a recommendation. MR. OCHS: I would want board direction. I mean, otherwise, they're scheduled to meet. I would just say, parenthetically, I have every intention, unless otherwise directed, to keep all of the county offices and normal business operations open all day Thursday and Friday. There's no need to close based on the forecast that I've seen so far. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner Fiala, last night on the CRA, it wasn't standing room only, but there were a lot of people there, and it was a very good and productive conversation. So I think that in terms of having nobody here, I don't think that's the issue. The September 6, 2017 Page 35 issue is having too much -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, I think it was the people that were not here who were calling me -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, okay. COMMISSIONER FIALA: -- from Massachusetts and other places, saying, you know, that they also wanted to be here. But if -- I don't know how many planning commissioners are even going to be here. MR. KLATZKOW: Well, the requirement is four, and I know two have already said they're not going to be there, and so you're down to, well, five commissioners that we know that would be there, or not. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I hit my button. Both Burt and I want to speak. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Well, I don't know why -- I am concerned with pushing forward with something that people can't make comments on, especially when it's been problematic. But I'm just -- I'm just placing their comments before you. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Madam Chair, I think I would like to just leave this with the County Manager. They can make that decision. And that -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Good. COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- would be my suggestion. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Commissioner McDaniel? COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: If you want board direction, I would make a recommendation that we suspend all meetings until after the storm goes by. The capacity for us to have a reasonable discussion about our budget tomorrow night, the MPO meeting on Friday, with the mayhem that's going on out there, is -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's been canceled. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Has our budget meeting been September 6, 2017 Page 36 canceled? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: No. MR. OCHS: No, ma'am. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The MPO. The -- just what Ms. Fiala brought up with regards to the CCP tomorrow. The Clerk's Office is closed; the school district is closed. It's difficult for me to understand how we can actually have these meetings and have any kind of rational discussion with folks. MR. OCHS: I think you can have that meeting and have a very rational discussion. I mean, you know, that's the first of two; we've got to schedule around all the other local jurisdictions so we don't have conflicts with their budget hearing dates. It's not as simple as just picking another day. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. MR. OCHS: I would really urge the Board -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: You're looking for direction from your Board as to how to -- MR. OCHS: I was asking for direction on the Plan Commission meeting. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Well, to me it's all one. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I would really like to ask that it be delayed for a week or whatever. MR. KLATZKOW: You could hold a special Planning Commission on that issue and still meet your deadlines. MR. OCHS: Yeah. We don't have a deadline. Apparently one of the petitioners has an application deadline with the state for some funding. That is the issue with regard to Cirrus Pointe. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And we'll hear later today, so maybe we do leave it up to the County Manager to make that decision, because I'll have that communication later today. As far as having meetings, you know -- and that's one thing I September 6, 2017 Page 37 wanted to ask Mr. Summers. It's one thing to anticipate a hurricane, and it's another thing to go through it. But the challenge we will all have is the aftermath, and that seems to go on forever. And, frankly, I look at the meeting tomorrow night and say, we have power, we have air-conditioning, we have clear roads. I think we continue our business. I understand the schools closing because, frankly, we need to plan for shelters and, you know, there are 7,000 employees, I think. DR. PATTON: That's right. MR. OCHS: I believe the Clerk said that he's open for business on the general government side. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Right. MR. OCHS: Just the court side of his operations will be shut down. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So I think it's -- for me -- I'm speaking as a commissioner, not as chairman by any means. I'm just speaking as a commissioner. I think we work while we can, and then we -- unless you're evacuating -- in which case you're evacuating, that's another issue. But if we're here, I think we work. COMMISSIONER FIALA: And I can -- I'm sorry if I'm interrupting. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Not at all. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I can participate in the budget hearing from here as well. So I can -- you know, there's five of us that need to be making decisions. And I don't know about anybody else, but I haven't received any comments good, bad, or indifferent about the budget. So I think that should -- I don't think we should remove that. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Good. Now, the MPO, ma'am, we did -- we did -- I did speak to the executive director, and we talked it through and decided when you're asking folks to come up from Everglades City and from Immokalee, maybe this is a time that we don't need to have a meeting. And, frankly, she did check with FDOT, September 6, 2017 Page 38 and there's no critical timelines. So we thought, in an abundance of caution, we just wouldn't have a meeting on Friday morning. COMMISSIONER FIALA: I think that's a good idea. Also, because, let's face it, Marco already had mandatory -- or had given a requirement -- it wasn't a requirement -- asking everybody to evacuate. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh. COMMISSIONER FIALA: So I don't know how many people would be left on Marco to come to an MPO meeting anyway. So I agree with you and with the executive director. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Good. All right. So the decision by nod of the head is to continue on and to leave it up to our County Manager about the CCPC tomorrow; is that correct? Is that how we -- COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: That's not my decision. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, I understand the concern and -- I mean, on the one hand, we're saying -- we're recommending that people heed our advice and get out of the way of the storm, but if the county's going to be open, then I think -- then all the meetings should go on, not just picking and choosing. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So we'll just leave it up to the County Manager. MR. OCHS: Yes. I would plan to meet tomorrow evening, and I'll discuss with whoever is the vice chair of the Plan Commission their feelings for the Plan Commission meeting. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. MR. OCHS: Thank you. And we do have a second hearing, as you know, on the budget, so -- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. MR. OCHS: -- there's a second opportunity there on the 28th. September 6, 2017 Page 39 COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The last bite. MR. OCHS: Second bite and the last bite. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The last. MR. OCHS: Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Commissioner Fiala, do you have any more questions? COMMISSIONER FIALA: No, those were mine. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. Thank you. I do have a question, Mr. Summers. MR. SUMMERS: Yes, ma'am. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Can I make a point before we go? CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes, of course. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I just want it to be -- that that's not how I feel. I understand I am one of five, but it -- and it's by no means the capacity of the County Manager to make prudent decisions. Just -- it's not how I personally feel as to how we ought to manage the process of conducting business, so I just wanted it to be said. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Good. Mr. Summers, one of the comments I got well before when Irma became sort of a gleam in our eyes when we started seeing it and started seeing the tracking by more than one citizen/taxpayer, is that, oh, my gosh, the crews in Florida are helping in Houston. They're -- they went to North Carolina. What are we going to do? How -- who's going to help us? Could you please talk about the FP&L and the guys who come in and clear our streets, the tree people and all the aftermath part. MR. SUMMERS: Yes, ma'am. First of all, the Florida National Guard did not deploy to Texas. That was one component that we -- that certainly held back. Florida Power & Light, we have daily communication with them. September 6, 2017 Page 40 The resources that they shared were to the point where it will have no impact on our recovery. They are fully staffed. They'll have all their necessary resources. And you have to remember that the bulk of the contracting into the Houston area came from the Midwest. We were very sensitive, the state was very sensitive, not to deplete too much. There was a large contingent from FWC that went in there with small boat rescue. All of those were recalled yesterday, if not day before, to give them time to get some rest, get some maintenance done, if necessary. So we're in very good shape. Now, there was a large draw on things like generators, some other large equipment, but we've already been working with our debris removal contractor and identifying some of those resources. There's a little bit of scarcity in some of the large generators, but we still have other sources well along the east coast that we can continue to draw from. I have no major concerns whatsoever that Houston depleted anything that we may need. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. The other question -- well, one comment is -- to the public is if you have a generator, a gas-powered generator, please do not leave it in your garage. MR. SUMMERS: Garage or lanai is absolutely correct. These need to be 20 feet outside, stationed outside. And these do not -- typical household generator, you don't run it in the rain. This is only a clear-weather device. So use the power cords, follow the manufacture's instructions, and run these devices well away from the home. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. And now the other thing -- and I heard from Mr. Wert this morning, but when we bring in folks to help us in this storm and the aftermath, that's going to be a challenge for our September 6, 2017 Page 41 first responders who do not live here. They're going to need a place to stay. So I hope our hotels and our motels work with the state of Florida. No one's asking for rooms to be given away, but there is a rate that's applied that the state of Florida will pay, and I would hope that our hotels and motels open their doors to these men and women who are going to help us after this storm. Thank you. MR. SUMMERS: Thank you, ma'am. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And just one last question about FP&L. I've received some correspondence from a resident with regard to their FP&L service, and they were provided some kind of a temporary power line that's laying on the ground, and then it's draped over their -- I was going to forward these pictures to you. I mean, I'm not an electrician, but a power line that's going to a house that's laying on the ground when there could be a storm surge and then draped along a fence between several residences seems to me to be a serious hazard. And is there -- do we have any ability to contact FP&L and say this is -- this particular situation needs to be addressed sooner rather than later? MR. SUMMERS: Sir, we do. I'll be glad to take that information and review it with the FP&L rep and, for our audience, the number is 1-800-4OUTAGE. And it's a very important -- this would be a good time for that particular homeowner to call that 1-800 number and make that temporary service situation known. MR. OCHS: Yeah. We have that information, sir. We'll make sure that Dan has it as well. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Because I received some photos of the situation. I don't know if everybody else did. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I mean, it -- I wouldn't want to be September 6, 2017 Page 42 there. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I think our office, my office -- COMMISSIONER FIALA: Leo, you and Nick have the immediate contact, don't you? MR. OCHS: Yes, we do; yes. COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay, good. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Okay, thank you. MR. SUMMERS: And, Commissioners, as we wind up, just a reminder that you're invited to -- the Governor is going to be in the Emergency Operations System at 2:30. He's asked for a quick briefing from me and I think a press opportunity, and you're certainly welcome to join us there in the EOC at 2:30; 2:45 is -- 2:30, 2:45 is his approximate arrival time. Thank you all for the support, thanks to all the county and municipal agencies, the school district, and the Sheriff. It's a real honor to work with such a great team. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you, Dan; thank you. COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Thank you. MR. OCHS: That's all we have, Madam Chairman. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Do I hear a motion to adjourn? COMMISSIONER SOLIS: So moved. COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Second. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We are adjourned. September 6, 2017 ***** There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 1:08 p.m. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL PENNY TA OR, C :0IRMAN AT � 1 IVGT CROCK, CLE ' .;-;:ja.V\ALIk Atfestts,to Chairman's e ,n,t;HT only These ri,..,tes approved by the Board on 1 ) 1(0/ , as presented or as corrected TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC. Page 43