##VIDEO ID:baNZutUtq78## [Music] good evening everyone and Welcome to our second public hearing on the budget uh before we get started I'd like to recognize commissioner Christian caban who will introduce the individual that will be bringing our invocation for this [Music] meeting thank you madam chair um I'm pleased to welcome Pastor Dalton Haney who is currently the pastor at Lake Talquin Baptist Church he joined the congregation just earli this year in February he's born and raised in Tallahassee previously serving as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodville and 10 years as associate pastor at the church of Southwood um Pastor Haney is joined today by his wife Beth who I was pleased to meet as well so floor is yours thank you thank you very much I'm honored to be here I'm honored to uh just be among you all and I'm thankful for the opportunity let's pray father we just we're so thankful father we're thankful that you love us we're thankful that you know us I'm thankful for this this group of individuals Lord these leaders uh we're we're so thankful for the city this amazing City that we live in this County Lord You've blessed us beyond measure and we just ask you today to protect us over the next few days as we uh deal with this hurricane God Just Keep Us Safe Keep Us protected uh give our leaders wisdom and discernment as they uh grapple with the budget and as they figure out uh how to how to best lead our County and our city and just uh bless them with wisdom and discernment bless this meeting with unity with peace and just uh I pray that that uh all of these things would come together uh for the benefit of your city and For Your Glory bless us tonight in Jesus name amen thank you amen thank you Pastor to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stand One Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all thanks again for everyone uh being here and I understand we have commissioner Maddox who is Desiring to up here uh telephonically so I would like to entertain a motion Commissioners to allow him to participate telephonically so so move Madam chair thank you move by commissioner Miner second by commissioner o Keith is there any discussion all those in favor let it be known by saying I I I thank you so much thank you commissioner Maddox we hear you loud and clear after our public than you m chair thank you after our public hearing we will also have a presentation from our County Administrator on the state of the weather weather and the status of the hurricane this is the second and final of the required public hearing on the leyon county budget for fiscal year 2024 2025 if you wish to speak in person please complete a speaker's card and turn it into the clerk citizens registers to speak in person or provide virtual comments will be asked to speak prior to the commission taking votes on the millage rates and on the budget now our County Administrator Mr vinon long will read the millage rate into the public record thank you madam share the proposed aggregate millage rate is 9.06 44 Mills which is a three which is 3% over the aggregate rolled back millage rate of 8.83 Ms adval Orum revenues will increase due to an upturn in property values this increase will be used to support sustaining a high quality level of essential Services countywide Commissioners you've been provided uh you have provided all the necessary guidance during the development of the tenative budget and all the direction provided in the various agendas workshops during the budget process have been incorporated into the 2025 final budget Madam chair oh thank you Mr County Administrator at this time the individuals that are preparing appearing rather in person or virtually are allowed to speak Mr County Administrator do we have any speakers Madam chair we have no speaker cards thank you FL statutes requires the board to address the millage rate before addressing each budget the board must vote on each millage rate and budget separately so I will now entertain motions the Motions commissioner the first recommendation is option one so moved thank you moved by Commission Keith is there second second by commissioner Proctor is there any I'm sorry was it Proctor is there any discussion mam chair I like to uh take note for during this public hearing uh there's a lot of uh often times feedback when the commission comes to um Levy impose uh execute uh a tax millage rate but it's significant tonight that the community understands that our board has labored within uh I believe millage rate which has been constant uh for the last uh 13 13 years 13 years 13 years this is so significant when you think about um change economic changes in particular the spiraling value of of things that have gone up from from everything and I think that tonight that um the citizenry uh ought note uh that this board has been able to do um a whole lot uh without raising the millit and it's also significant to note that um uh over on page 16 of 93 uh where the gross taxable value uh from which we're able to tax is 25 billion 368 million and some change and what we're doing uh based on the report from County administrat we saw uh over half of the property in our community is not taxable is exempt those constraints with the numbers and the packaging of what we propos for next year is pretty incredible so it's a big shout out uh to um our County Administrator rashonda our staff for packaging something that no other community in the state half its value is not taxable and for 13 years we working with the same exact millage rate uh I just say that which with you all I'm very very proud of this um budget that we've achieved thank you very much thank you uh commissioner uh proor for those County encouraging words any other commissioner and I just like to Echo his sentiment and um giving kudos to our County Administrator uh uh Miss uh Bradley and all those that work hard throughout the year to make sure we have a balanced budget but also make sure that the level of services that we provide are maintained as well I'm certainly proud that we have an increased IM millage rate over the uh the last 13 years and we are able to uh to absorb whatever extra Revenue that has come in uh from Amazon and new homes and other sources to provide services to our community to provide extra law enforcement uh positions and increase the salaries of our law enforcement uh our our Deputy sheriffs so that they can be competitive with the salaries of our Tallahasse Police Department so and and that's just a small fraction of what our County Administrator and our budget director looks at to make sure Leon County is safe and secure financially secure so thank you thank you all again all those in favor of option one as far as the millage rate Let It Be know my saying I I I Commission I thank you uh any opposition no one no Madam clerk thank you option we're now on option two commissioner Maddox yes ma'am Madam chair I like to declare a conflict on option two because of my employment problem to the Big B thank you reason I'll be recusing myself from option number two thank you I'd like to entertain a motion for option two mad chair move um the adoption of uh the resolution as attachment two and cite it to us as option two with the exclusion with the um the exception of commissioner U madx with the exception from commission madx okay second back proper command I'll second that thank you any discussion hearing none all those in favor let it be known by saying I I any opposition I it's unanimous now I'd like to uh entertain a motion that includes um commissioner I'm sorry that includes commissioner maddox's exclusion which is the line item funding for uh Big Bend uh I'm Sor Family Promise of the Big Bend I'm sorry okay this would be a motion okay so move Madam chair second okay let let's read you so move pursuant to the county administrat okay awesome awesome uh and it's been moved moved in second then to adopt the line out of budget specifically addressing commission mxs is exclusion that's the big Benin Homeless Coalition and Family Promise of the big Benin in the general budget all those in favor Let It Be know by saying I I I with commissioner M mam Char this okay with commissioner Maddox um recusing himself on that particular line item budget item okay now I'd like to entertain a motion at this time regarding option three Madam chair I move option three which is attachment number three and it proposes that we Emergency Medical Services mstu uh with a millage uh bump of 0 .75 Ms so move second thank you is there any discussion discussion Madam chair commissioner Madam chair I want to make sure that that um the public recognizes uh the extraordinary work that we've done with Emergency Medical Services over the years uh and I want Miss ooto to especially understand miss ooto that this little um bump uh 0 point that's really small than a 0o point some uh a 0 point uh 75 mil uh Mr County Administrator could you just for the public record tonight uh indicate uh how rare it is that we have ever asked for a millage bump uh for this service I'd like to ask Rand to make her way up I just want to make sure we got Clarity no we we did not have an increase in the EMS mstu since we put it in place in well 20 years ago uh and so but but clarification Rashad on the uh on the military yeah I would just say um this year actually we're maintaining the 0.75 Mill it was last year where the increase um first went into play so we're maintaining it this year to 75 oh thank you very much Miss Alo did you hear that that this is not an increase at all we have held the line and kudos for that and last year that's was the first time uh since we've ever um had a little bump 20 years and I don't you know we didn't even have Uber 20 years ago I don't think so to catch a cab to everything's gone so we respect again the great work uh of our our staff and in particular the award winning when we got this thing this service Madam chair it was literally dumped in our laps and it was an orphan and Leon County V tell us a little bit how we achieved this this service and it was just given to us and dump sure you have to the after 31 years of providing the service we were notified uh by tmh at the time it was no longer fiscally viable for the for tmh to provide that service um it commissioner Proctor your your your recollection is correct there was not much lead time there was a a significant Community discussion about where and who should provide that service going forward uh the county uh ultimately the board of County Commissioners decided that to ensure um the fiscal accountability uh and the programmatic accountability the service that the best option was to provide it in-house so we could could have the greatest level of control on the cost as well as the responsiveness of the service uh so again we put a very uh high- performing system in place not one that is seen anywhere really else in the country except for some private models that is a system status management model where um where uh our resources are deployed uh around the county uh at the places where the highest incidents of of of of emergencies are and and so again highly efficient service in um uh again just just a few years later um once we put it the system in place um uh we the the the system was recognized as a leader in the industry and and continues today we have um over uh 800,000 transports I believe uh to date or maybe half a million transports 800,000 calls uh and half a million transports uh and the system is recognized as leader in the industry great that was the stuff that I was going to say y'all right there thanks Vince uh when we received this with zero lead time it was just abandoned and our commitment to public health safety welfare of our community and it is an awardwinning there was no RFP RFQ no bid we people jumping at the bits to require the service nothing it was just TMA said you know what too much red ink and we have Acquired and it has been an outstanding unit even up until last year becomes the first time that we were trying to cover cost for it and so among the things that one can be proud of uh that U performance over time has been Exquisite you can certainly um check the block on the County's management of a very uh extraordinary and it's collaboration with the fire department and working on calls uh Highway Patrol uh all the rest of them uh it's a phenomenal work in interchange and uh County Administrator we have to give you Kudos because the awards keep coming in uh for the service that we we're rendering so want to wear on that Madam chair and other Commissioners I defer to thank you commissioner Proctor any other comments hearing none all those in favor of option three adoption of the Emergency Medical Services millage rate at 0.75 let it be known by saying I I I commission thank you uh any opposition hearing none it's unanimous now I'd like to entertain a motion for option four a resolution thank you move by commissioner yeah K yeah I was waiting to be called Madam chair I'll go ahead and move staff recommendation option four thank you and second by commissioner Miner is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor of the adoption of option four regarding the the resolution on the Emergency Medical Services militate Let It Be know my saying I I I thank you any opposition hearing none is unanimous thank you um Mr Commissioners commissioner Maddox and Mr County Administrator at this time we can go into uh any comments is that presentation want yeah yeah I think so com oh okay all right good good good at this time we're going to go into um a report from our County Administrator regarding the impending uh storm this headed out way County administrat thank you madam chair Commissioners as I shared with you yesterday I wanted to provide uh just a brief update to you on tropical storm um Helen and its forecasted impacts on Leon County and our commity Community let me start by emphasizing that there remains as as I always do the big caveat there there remains uh uncertainty uh in the storm's path uh time and time again we've seen how just a few miles variation in the track can drastically alter uh A hurricane's landfall that said the current forecasted path poses a significant risk to leyon County and our citizens if the track commissioner remains unchanged we could see widespread structural damage prolonged power outages and infrastructure damage that could take weeks to repair and months to fully recover from since last Thursday when I sent my first uh update to the board uh County management County Emergency Management has been closely monitoring this system in just a moment I'm going to ask Kevin Peters and Matt Cavell to provide the latest guidance from the National Weather Service and the key messages that we'll be sharing with our community however I want to take just a moment Commissioners to share a summary of the County's preparedness and response uh so far to begin Commissioners we are fully aware that and I'm glad you're sitting that this may become the County's thirdd federally declared disaster in 5 months uh that uh is an exceedingly r rare um distinction to say the least and not one that any of us uh wanted and we knew we were going to have a very active hurricane season but that's certainly rare again third this could be the third federally declared disaster in 5 months um the these declarations include the May 10th tornado outbreak hurricane Debbie and again soon to be hurricane Helen Helen Commissioners presents a fundamentally different threat uh it could bring up to 8 10 uh eight I'm sorry it could bring up to 10 Ines of rain uh and expose us to at least 8 hours of hurricane force winds to meet This Disaster headon and and Lead our community's response and Recovery we have and I'm just going to tick off a few of the higher level operational efforts that we have undertaken and are undertaking actively all consistent with uh our emergency management plans and protocols in place but Commissioners first we've activated as you know the emergency Operation Center uh to support uh our most critical response and Readiness operations we have declared a local state of emergency effective this morning at 8:00 a.m. which enables us to coordinate resources seek federal and state aid and protect our citizens we uh have and and are coordinating with the state of Florida on critical Mission requests including plans to open Five Points of distribution across the county monitor the mass care needs of 18 senior living communities assist with identifying host shelters outside the storms forecast path coordinate Road clearing and addressing issues on state roads Mutual Aid through FDLE if necessary uh and the stand and the nearby staging of two 1 megawatt generators should the hospitals have emergency needs and this lest Commissioners is expected to grow and change depending on conditions that just our initial coordination with the state which again I emphasize will continue throughout in addition to that we've coordinated the opening of risk shelters across the county with leyon County Schools again consistent with our plans Matt will talk a little bit more about that we have coordinated with the Department of Health to open a special needs shelter for citizens who depend on medical devices and Professional Care we've worked with homeless service providers to inform vulnerable populations about the storm and shelter locations we've distributed more than 11,000 sandbags and Counting across five sites uh we have deployed uh predeployment We've confirmed overnight Staffing plans we've coordinated with schools to predeployment throughout the county so again they're out there at first light ready to respond as quickly as possible um as soon as it's safe to be out there we've Reed our disaster teams to assess uh the opening of County Comfort stations uh as soon as possible at County Library locations once the storm passes and the damage is surveyed we are coordinating our County damage assessment teams to survey countywide damage uh once the storm passes and roads are passible uh doing so of course commission as you know will expedite the FEMA assistance process and help us target areas uh in need of direct human services so again those teams uh are on standby and and and will be ready to go we've surged Staffing uh ambulances and paramedics to respond to the emergency before during and after the storm we've confirmed Staffing for the backup 911 Center uh through the Consolidated dispatch agency in case the storm affects Prim operations we've also put in place protocols to take over the 911 operations of surrounding counties if they need us to do so we're ready to do that we've coordinated with law enforcement for additional patrols and traffic control we've confirmed with local utility providers that Mutual Aid teams from across the country are on standby and through County tourism we've coordinated uh hotel accommodations for Mutual Aid Crews and other disaster teams either uh near or in Lyon County and a whole lot more Commissioners again just some of the highlevel operational issues I'd now like to turn it over to Kevin for the latest on the Storm afterwards Matt is going to come up and he's going to again just outline some key public messages uh including uh projected impacts and with that I'll hand it off to Kevin Peters our Emergency Management director thank you Mr administrator and good evening Commissioners uh want to start off with an image here maybe there we go all right um with with an image that that that I think is a very moving image here this is uh this is the probability for tropical storm force winds uh over the next 5 days uh you can't see the State of Florida under this image this is a very large wide ranging storm there there's really a risk for tropical storm force winds from from South East Florida and the keys all the way to uh to Mississippi if you look at the uh the graphic behind me this this uh uh this would be the the coast of Mississippi and over here um the Miami area uh obviously here the the the brighter colors uh this is the Big Bend area this is where the highest risk is though and this is where um obviously we are at um the latest advisory from 5 p.m. with um the up-to-date uh cone uh would show that uh the the track of the storm is is going to continue uh through the Caribbean Sea uh right now it's 50 m per hour uh sustained winds uh continue with some slow development uh through around 2: p.m. uh on Wednesday it'll be off the uh Yucatan um peninsula of of Mexico uh and then as it tracks North across the Gulf of Mexico it should intensify uh rapid intensification over the the warm Waters of the Gulf of Mexico uh to what's estimated to be a category 3 uh hurricane that's a major hurricane with 115 m per hour sustained winds uh right as it's approaching landfall uh in the appalache Bay Area um as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico currently it's drifting about 12 miles per hour but we do expect it to uh attain a speed that that's greater than 20 miles hour in pickup speeds uh if we look at when we could expect uh the the arrival uh of tropical storm force winds our most likely time is is going to be uh during the day on Thursday uh we can expect it probably later uh midafternoon uh to start seeing tropical storm Force winds across North Florida uh those would be winds in excess of 39 milph uh National Weather Service says we could expect the high winds Associated uh with Helen to last till approximately midnight uh perhaps even 3:00 a.m. uh before they clear out uh on early Friday morning uh so uh a very quick passage of the storm uh on on Thursday into early Friday morning uh but again a very widespread a very impactful storm as I said uh 1150 mph sustained winds uh as it's making its Final Approach across the Gulf of Mexico uh the National Weather Service had advised that that Inland leyon County um winds could be 74 to 110 maybe slightly over 110 in southern leyon County um this is beyond what we've seen in recent history uh probably the most uh impactful storm since hurricane Kate of 1985 I think those sustained winds registered around 80 miles per hour so even more powerful uh than Kate uh if I may just show one additional thing real quick this is not just a state of Florida uh impact just uh wanted to show uh where all the watches and warnings currently are across the Nations um much of the State of Florida these these pinks and and maroon colors and and Purple colors those those are associated with watches and warnings with uh Helen uh those watches extend into South Georgia and then as the storm transition further north uh we expected to be a a heavy rain maker across North Georgia and into uh Tennessee and and the western parts of North Carolina so we have flood watches already well in uh to the to the northern states uh so this is a this is a National Storm as the County Administrator said this is this is a uh one of those storms that that are are unprecedented uh in in in our area uh this this will be of the the likes possibly of the the Katrina style storm when it's all said and done um again Category 3 as it makes an approach near landfall 150 mph Leon County we are expecting 74 to 110 mph uh we have a flood watch in effect uh 6 to 10 inches of rain is expected we could have isolated higher amounts uh and again timing uh midday Thursday through midnight uh of Friday perhaps 3:00 a.m. so that that kind of through the afternoon of Thursday and into the overnight hours uh with the storm moving into South Georgia on Friday that would that would be when we really have a chance to get our crews out all the staging that that that we're preparing for to begin the uh the the process of Response Road clearing and and other restoration uh so that that's uh that would be the expected storm impacts I just wanted to to let you know I did have the chance to speak with uh state director Kevin Guthrie at the state emergency Operation Center this afternoon uh we we're staying in touch we've been staying in touch on the Storm uh and he just asked if I would just reinforce uh that that this is going to be a very strong a very impactful storm uh that that we as as as community members uh not to rely on what the last storm was that we have to treat every storm different and take every uh potential element of this weather Hazard seriously uh with this storm so uh with that I think it's time to turn it over to Matt with a little more description of some of these impacts thank you Mr feeders can we let complete the presentation then we'll do the questions afterwards thank you madam chair Commissioners thank you yes what I'd like to cover right now is some of the most common and most important and critical questions that our citizens have such as what will I experience with the storm what would I see after it what should I do now so let me start with what you'll see after the storm so again if we lock in this forecast as Kevin has put forward right now see deal said that very much it looks like Colleen opened up a cell phone and said take me to 301 South Monroe Street that's where I want to go cuz that's exactly where this path Center Line is going through if it did not change and that's what we saw we will see thousands of trees down across the county you will have in excess of 100 blocked roads on the county we will take days to dig out of this store and we will additionally see hundreds of damaged structures uh not that we are unfamiliar as what we've seen in 2024 but these are some of those impacts that we'll experience you will see longterm power restoration activities that will take long time to have full Restoration in addition to that you're going to have significant rain on ground that's already wet and that means that restor ation processes Road clearing electrical rest all the other things that are to rebuild and recover in our community will take longer time you'll have areas also closed off by flooded roadways and in addition to that because of trees down you'll be experiencing neighborhoods that may not be able to leave their Community for a day or two there there will be significant impacts here locally if this forecast track remains now as the County Administrator has said there Still Remains uncertainty in the path and Miles matter just a bit to the East and just bit to the West that changes the impacts for Leon County but let's talk very clearly about what citizens should do now we have the benefit of time with this storm in that we've been able to forecast its path and its forecasted track with relative certainty for a long period of time as the administrator said those updates were beginning Thursday of last week and a Monday of this week is when those most developed storm tracks happened Wednesday tomorrow morning is a critical time for our community to make decisions about what will keep their families safe the most important decisions during this hurricane response and Recovery will happen tomorrow morning here's what that means people will need to make assessments given the most recent weather data tomorrow to make decisions about how they keep their family safe the day after what that looks like is certain families have certain plans to go and stay with family outside of the forecast to track or to seek shelter outside of the forecast to track and I want to underscore something important that the County Administrator says we're working closely with the state and American Red Cross to stand up host shelters on the exterior of the forecasted track that way that hotel stays and costs are not a limitation for folks that need to evacuate from our community to go somewhere else because that is safest for them people will need to make those decisions of long-term prolonged power outages potentially long-term we need to dig out from block roads and make those decisions that's what we'll be communicating to folks tomorrow with all the appropriate time of north of 30 hours to make those protective decisions for themselves those impacts as we outlined are right on the table right now some of the other considerations though as the administrator had said is that we're opening risk shelters tomorrow 6 PM coordination with the schools seven sites all that information is located on the County's emergency information portal and was recently sent out in the past 40 minutes by news release that is a decision for folks from our coastal areas and regions but it's also a decision for our local folks who are in a home that is siteb built and will be safe for these wind levels except that everybody's situation about what trees are above their homes and what they can consider as different and unique to them those risk shelters are open for those folks in addition the special needs shelter very important people that rely on Medical Professional Care or medic Ally powered medical energy powered medical devices can seek shelter again through the Special Needs process at Florida High uh these are decisions that those folks will make tomorrow at that abundant time and and as we've shared we will have a press event tomorrow to establish those time timelines and those threats to our community where people can make those decisions so what you do now is plan for what your best decision is tomorrow knowing that you have all the appropriate time it is very likely that if this forecast does not change and stays similar to what it is now that an evacuation of manufactured homes is a sensible Next Step as we've done for many different wind threat um emergencies so these are the things again that we'll have tomorrow morning because we will have an 11: p.m advisory this morning uh this evening from the National Hurricane Center and at 5:00 am. tomorrow that'll be the best weather data we have to make those decisions in coordination with our officials into this community so those are the questions of what you will see if this forecast doesn't change and what you need to do now to make those right decisions for your family so then again just wanted to put those stakes in the ground and to say that our County Emergency information portal and all of our platforms have been leveraged to get this information out to folks so that they can stay informed before they make the most important decision potentially of their lives Madam chair I'll bring it home very quickly and I'll hand it back to you and and we're happy to answer any questions the board we know that's a lot of information and Commissioners we really wanted to take this opportunity while the board was convened tonight uh to provide you this update um again Commissioners um I know that you know how seriously uh and thoroughly we prepare for and respond to National or natural disasters uh especially those with this potential magnitude uh as Matt sh shared I want to just reinforce that we have a pre- landfall press event tomorrow morning at PSC um we do that very uniquely in this community with all hands on deck in a very coordinated fashion um at that time 9:30 a.m. uh obviously our our chair will will represent us and we will have the latest uh weather data and provide very specific guidance at that time again 30 hours out on community evacuations recovery expectations on a more refined basis and very importantly how uh citizens should access information and stay informed um uh again Madam chair just wanted to take a minute to thank you uh for uh your availability on the leadup to this event even through a root canal thank you for that Madam chair uh and for the to the entire board for your your support and availability as usual uh following uh this meeting Commissioners I'm going to send you another uh update tonight uh and of course I'll be updating you throughout the activation as we do finally Commissioners I want to just assure uh citizens that we will be working tirelessly to respond to and recover from Helen uh that said it is imperative that they finalize their preparations that they stay tuned and that they closely follow the official guidance that will be coming uh from us in the State of Florida by doing so they will not only best protect their families but they will greatly assist the effectiveness of our community response and recovery and with that Madam chair I'll hand it back to you and we're happy to answer any questions thank you thank you Mr County Administrator and we want to thank uh Matt and Kevin and all the individuals that have collaborated with our count administrator and our emergency staff it it's apparent that you all started working 7even days ago if if not sooner than that to put this disaster preparedness together for us to give us a road map um so thank you guys so much um Commissioners Comm commissioner Welch thank you madam chair just real briefly Matt Kevin just so we I want to reiterate some of those statistics that you just mentioned um hurricane Kate 1985 roughly was what sustained winds 80 85 miles hour and this is potentially 100 115 mph sustained winds for how long of a duration eight hours did you say or three hours so so that that full window is the beginning of tropical storm force winds which will escalate to Hurricane force and then deescalate back to Tropical Storm force wind so it'll be 12 hours over 40 m hour uh a smaller window of that uh maybe a fraction of that four to 6 hours is that hurricane core as it as it progresses I think it's important for people to hear hundreds of Roads blocked thousands of trees down potentially weeks of power outages we're talking about a a wind event unlike anything that we have seen here in modern history recent history right I mean we're talking like most people in Tallahassee have not seen something like this it's a very significant event in relation to the rest of our history so I just want people to hear that and really understand that and take that into consideration as they make plans moving forward and then sort of meter their expectations for Recovery times recovery efforts this track if it holds is going to be devastating to Leon County if it holds and that is something I think people need to hear so um I appreciate the County Administrator and you guys I I want to encourage you over the next four five six seven days uh you know as things get hairier uh we appreciate you we support you uh and we will be certainly reaching out to you I'm sure if things unfold unfortunately like it looks like they may let's hope and pray that that we get a wiggle or a wobble but um thank you for your preparation and I just want to everybody to make sure they hear those words thank you thank you commissioner wilps commissioner caban thank you madam chair um first off I just want to thank staff um for the very detailed update and also thank staff for the the sleepless nights and hours that I know you guys are about to endure on on behalf of Alla so um thank you um in advance and thank you sincerely um I I have a um a couple points Madam chair um if I could address with the County Administrator um and just one I want to say I'm greatly concerned for Woodville on the south side of Leon County um as it is the southernmost point of Leon County and its close relation to Waka County I know that they just um I know we talked about this earlier today had a mandatory evacuation due to storm surge um Woodville is not in a storm surge or or a flood or has no we should not be concerned for a storm surge in Woodville is that correct based on all the current modeling and and I'll ask Kevin to back this up because he's got the latest and we've been in in in regular communication and in recent communication with Wakulla County's Emergency Management director but you're right um commissioner an area of concern but there are no models currently showing storm surge uh into Woodville and in fact Kevin you could probably we reiterate that's what I was looking for earlier today I was trying to F this up but I couldn't find it some of the the the the reasoning behind uh their evacuation I know uh Kevin had that conversation earlier today yeah uh Commissioners Mr administrator it's a little hard to make out the county lines you can see the wording for Woodville uh this is the uh estimated storm surge inundation uh forecast for uh for this storm with the the current uh forecast advisory um it's a little hard to make out if you see where the the arrow of the mouse is that's the county line the southern end of the county line um so this storm surge inundation it doesn't make it to leyon County it does not make it to Woodville in in in this scenario uh but it is very significant for most of the populated areas of of wulla County um many of the populated areas along Florida's Nature Coast as well okay thank you um I know we mentioned manufactured mobile homes uh potentially evacuating what how much notice will we give them and at what point um will we make that decision that decision will be made tomorrow morning as early as possible as part of this press event and that will be the decision to evacuate manufactured homes should the forecast hold its current path okay and then um this might be a question for for shington um folks who have transportation issues who are um you know in Mobile Homes manufactured home and in an in the case in that we do do a mandatory evacuation how should we you know go about that is a 211 Big Ben or where do we want to push them that's exactly who they would need to contact commissioner um contact 211 big Benin that can that is also coordinating with um our transportation disadvantage group as well as star Metro and um other providers of transportation to get them to where they need to be they will they will also be uh activated with us within the EOC as well okay thank you and just commission the reason for the question just because there are a lot of a big population in my district are folks who live in manufactured homes and mobile homes and um you know with the with the high level of wind that we're expecting I just want to make sure that that they're protected um and uh one thing I just want to point out is you know this is something that our office you know will be discussing in in the future but you know Woodville does not have a shelter um and the nearest shelter and evacuation um for folks who are evacuating in Woodville is Fairview Middle School which is roughly eight miles away and so as a as a commission you know as we get in storm planning the future I just want to keep that that community in mind that there is no sanctioned um storm shelter in Woodville so um I I I appreciate you madam chair and Madam chair I just wanted to emphasize that point the commissioner comman spoke with me about that and he's right and we are taking that into consideration and some of our mitigation planning right now and hopefully we'll that can be identified as a as a potential need for us through the state's process well we appreciate that thank you so much thank you thank you commissioner commissioner Miner thank you madam chair um really want to thank our Emergency Management and crr staff um I've said this before with other hurricanes when we have a disaster coming I I'm very confident and and in your talent and your dedication and we've seen that time and time again too often actually uh but uh the fact that you are here you and your teams and your staff um gives me some some assurance that we're going to be prepared and we're going to respond after the storm passes um you mentioned that there were going to be seven shelters opening in in leyon county in coordination with Leon County Schools um just a couple if you could describe some of the things that people need to bring to those shelters you know um we we've talked about tomorrow morning we're going to make a call on whether or not those living in manufactured homes might need to evacuate but even if you don't live in a in a manufactured home you know if you have large trees near a home near your house it might be a good idea to consider in a shelter anyway um and Matt if you would mind talking a little bit about what what they would need to do to to what type of things they should bring um how early could they come Etc yeah so again the shelters for Wednesday will open at 6 p.m. at those seven sites that are identified what you would need to bring to the shelter is literally everything that make you comfortable in a space uh the shelters are about protecting life and safety they are not Comfort um so everything that you would need to bring could be things like sleeping bags breeding material entertainment if you have a particular diet of snacks this that or the other please do entertainment activities for kids and whatnot to make everyone's life a better experience in a shelter setting please do um there is at each shelter there is water and there is a limited amount of snacks and that is all that will be offered at those shelters and so anything else that you would need in addition to that you should bring sounds good and then I've heard some conflicting information on social media so just want to use the opportunity to clarify this here which of the shelters are pet accessible pet friendly so all of the shelters would accept pets however in the abundance of making sure that our materials and staff are best utilized child is a space that has the most materials and Staffing dedicated to it along with our partnership with Big Ben Dart disaster animal rescue team to make sure that all the kennels and resources are there that said every shelter is accessible for pets and can be used especially if the winds are rising and you need to seek shelter because you made a determination at the last moment you will not be turned away from any of the County Schools shelters and anyone that comes to a shelter with pets should have a pet carrier with them is that correct yes everyone should bring whatever you had brought the animal with a kennel or a carrier it should be brought to there with also the documents for the animal and as any foods or medication that the animal would require if you think that the food is limited for humans it is especially limited for animals so anything that your animal would need also needs to be brought with you to the shelter setting great thank you very much I I know a lot of folks that a lot of constituents that we serve often uh decide to maybe kind of stay at home and hunker down at home because they don't want to leave their pets but um I'm really glad to hear that all all our shelters will accommodate pets uh so please don't let that be a barrier toward considering staying out a shelter if you're in a manufactured home or if you're in a home that has large tree trees nearby that you're worried about uh thank you very much Kevin and Peter mat and Kevin appreciate it and uh Madam chair thank you thank you commissioner Miner commissioner o' Kei thank you madam chair um thank you Kevin and Matt and everyone on your team and on the county team um can you confirm something for me I want to make sure I'm really clear on it and everyone is really clear on it you described 12h hour a rough an approximate 12h hour period where winds over 40 m an hour is that gusts or sustained uh it would be a combination with sustained and the gusts we're going to have those hurricane Force gusts um but you will start with a sustained tropical storm force winds and then for that estimated 4 to 6 hour period when you described hurricane force winds um would those also we could also expect those to be sustained hurricane force winds so to be clear that's up to around 100 mph winds sustained National Weather Services advised to be prepared within Leon County for for Hurricane force winds of 74 to 110 mil per hour during the passage of this so yes sir it could be sustained hurricane force winds thank you um all right uh for folks who um are choosing whether to shelter here in place or whether to shelter somewhere outside of Tallahassee um do you have any thoughts on the type of things they should be considering questions they should be asking themselves um to make that decision so those are all very uniquely personal decisions but however the guidance that we would provide in emergency management is that you need to understand primarily if you can survive a if your life is protected and your safety is insured without a power outage for an extended period of time some of those things that are impacted by that are do you draw water from a well and then would may experience prolonged power outage then therefore consideration to evacuation outside of the predominantly most dangerous path of the storm should be warranted and considered um because again we'll Define this by the impacts if you are comfortable and able to due to the income or means that you have to shelter in your place for three to five or seven days um sufficient for your family then given the forecasted track that we have right now you may consider Sheltering in place here in the community um if you have hardships that need to be considered then outside of the forecasted path would be good let me also be very clear that when we say outside of the forecasted path we saw this with Irma if we don't remember too long ago where the sign significant shifts in the path can occur over the next again 48 hours is up until the most significant winds so that path may also change and needs to be considered in whether you choose to evacuate West East with family or whatnot um and again those options about host shelters and hotel arrangements and other accommodations can be found on the County's emergency information portal excellent thank you um and we talked about making you talked about making decisions in tomorrow morning um do you have any uh thoughts or um expectations on um when people might be best to leave if they decide to considering the number of surrounding counties that have evacu evacuation orders well in in tress we're in full transparency whenever they make that decision and they have considered that that's the path that they're going to take they should they should do it at that time gotta we're giving again more than ample notice if we make this decision and guidance provided specific to the County administrator's point in the morning tomorrow that again leaves in excess of 24 hours to make safe decisions about where your final destination is whether you're Sheltering in place in this community or you're choosing another destination that is ample time to make that choice but it should be made on Wednesday an action should be taken on Wednesday waiting until Thursday morning to finalize those plans means that you're likely best to stay here and shelter in place because you do not want to be caught on the roadway during tropical stormforce Madam chair if I could just add on to to that for commissioner Keef the general rule of thumb is that you evacuate from water and you and you shelter from wind and so if we were talking about a lower level storm our general guidance would be that that if your accommodations are suitable to shelter from wind then stay where you are again that's taking out manufactured housing and some other things but we'll have to take into consideration tomorrow and that will inform our guidance to people is we'll be looking at the intensity of the storm if it stays on that track and our recovery our potential recovery times so people have to take that into consideration again as Matt noted about um how long again a recovery could they anticipate and that's that's the kind of information that we'll be really refining tomorrow okay thank you um and then um I just want say thank you to everyone uh we have um Kevin and Matt and Vince here but they represent a team of hundreds maybe thousands of people that certainly when we coordinate with they're already preparing um and I want to give a special thanks to our volunteer firefighters um I've already heard from our uh chairs volunteer firefighters who actually meeting as we speak uh to stage and prepare for the storm as other stations are thank you thank you uh commissioner o'keith commissioner proor thank you madam chair um Vince this decision is going to be a regional one we're not acting isolated as Leon County how how collaborative and is the state going to be in that room or will they abdicate and and and go ghost um and and what guidance is dominant in the voice that speaks to this region yeah so uh Commissioners uh we we have been in constant communication with all of our regional Partners uh and the state Emergency Operations Center since the weekend there have been series of conference calls between the state emergency Operation Center and all 67 counties we've also had Regional Conference Calls with our surrounding eight counties and so we are making coordinated decisions uh on as we move move through this the steps uh of of the evacuation decision-making process this is this is not an isolated decision process we are communicating wholly with everybody sir very good um commissioner caban mentioned his district and this U hunker down mentality that sometimes sweeps uh some of our areas is there an industry standard our uh weather standard that we know if a 65 mile wind is coming you need to leave uh if you're in a mobile home uh at some somebody in the world ought to know that there's a win point where your mobile home is not safe and and will you all be able to communicate that folk who's facing 70 M 75 M wins you probably need to leave I mean how will you communicate that yeah yes sir so so to to your first part about the you know is there the the the communication standard uh FEMA the Federal Emergency Management agency advises that hurricanes are unsafe in hurricanes that if you live in that and it's hurricane force winds evacuation if you live in a mobile home is is your best Survival action you know evacuate from the mobile home so FEMA says they're not safe in hurricanes as far as the communication process it'll be uh Matt could probably speak to all of the platforms that the county has our press conference in the morning uh but all of this this decision- making announcement in the morning will be posted across the full County uh platform I don't know if there's any more to that yeah I I can speak real quickly to the importance if a mandatory evacuation is issued we we just all recently got a hurricane warning on our phones right that happened most people got that we can do that so that's that's an element that we deploy for wireless emergency alerts as well judiciously but for important measures like this that is something that we'll make sure that everyone is informed of the actions that they should take okay two two more questions of the sites of the seven sites which of those sites are Urban core in Southside um to the point the list is that and out of the folks that are Urban cor outside we have childes Lincoln Godby Leon S Fort Braden uh and then also Fairview Middle School those are the seven locations offered by County Schools you got that you heard that okay and um that is offered also because those structures are best suited for absorbing storm impact and as well as their Geographic diversity okay very good then final Point general counsel in the event um we have emergency declaration which means that uh if the chair uh in consultation with the County Administrator deems of the need for County Commission special meeting or something uh that's within her capacity to gather if in the aftermath of this there needs to be a special meeting is that is that accurate or what legal um red tape is is has been severed that we won't have to go through no M please thank you madam chair um yes the the chair will have the authority if needed to call a special meeting of the board um the the biggest thing will will be notice to the public that's always the one of the biggest considerations and requirements for a sunshine meeting um but in the events of emergencies like something we're potentially looking at here you're you're not bound to provide the time frame of notice that you would for a regular meeting so those meetings can be scheduled fairly expeditiously and the important thing will be um working with CMR to ensure that that information is messaged out to the public and the media to ensure that they know that a meeting has been called very good I I just want the chair to know of my um availability if in her discretion uh there is a need for us to talk thank you very much thank you commissioner [Music] Proctor uh let me just ask a question M Mr County Administrator we um is there anything further that we need to do on the county level other than uh the local state of emergency is it anything more heightened where we can put the citizens on a height notice that this is is very serious or that that's basically no we we've established again the sort of put the legal structure in place uh through the declared local state of emergency and I know the Govern of declared absolutely and from here it's going to be very active Communications throughout the throughout the event which we can handle right and uh just one other question for uh Mr Peters and um for Matt um I I know you all indicated that hopefully sometime early in the morning before the press conference you all will have um had your conference State local National regarding uh the status of of the hurricane and you can probably be more definitive maybe at that time as far as the direction of it um so that people will know that they need to make a decision about whether to hunker in place or whether to leave the will that information also give them an idea of they wait too late how bad the traffic could be trying to get out 10 East 10 West yeah that that will certainly be part of the uh the speaking points that that we deliver uh tomorrow morning U this is this is a very serious situation and and we're going to be very very clear with with the dangers involved because if you wait too late you might get in a ball neck and might not be able yes ma'am to uh to leave get out of Harm's Way yes and just to make one very quick point to that um evacuation planning traffic control and all that work is part of our emergency preparedness planning as it involves folks leaving the community to shelter and other other places or to stay here and shelter in place so all of all of that is part of our emergeny awesome awesome thank you so much this has been very very informative we certainly appreciate Mr County Administrator all of the hard work of you and the staff directed at keeping our County safe keeping our our citizens safe and I certainly appreciate the concern of all the Commissioners you know those specifically in your district and just concern overall about the health safety and Welfare of the citizens in our County and I know we all going to work together to do what we can to uh help protect our citizens keep them informed and keep everybody safe keep ourselves safe as well um at this time M Madam County attorney do you have any other comments no thank you madam chair thank you U Mr County Administrator anything further you can't can't say enough stay tuned finalize your preparedness efforts and uh follow the official guidance uh that you'll uh be receiving thank you madam chair thank you Mr County Administrator anything else further uh from any uh Commissioners thank you guys so much for being here and I just think we all we've got to pray we've got to ask God to protect our County and keep us safe and keep our citizens safe thank you guys so much having said that the meeting is adjourned [Music] ah for