##VIDEO ID:Nl3jdtJdTWE## e e we're going to do our invocation and our pledge our invocation will be led by commissioner Bill Pickins and our pledge by commissioner Wilkinson let me call the meeting to order it's Monday October 7th this is an emergency meeting of the board of County Commissioners after we call our meeting to order we're going to recess and after we do the pledge and the prayer and we're going to be waiting on our public safety director to get here from the Emergency Operations Center so I'll rise if you will commission pick let us pray early follow thank you for this day and all the blessings in it father God just be with us father God as we have this meeting today to declare a St a state of emergency father God father God be with uh our law enforcement our firefighters First Responders our emergency team father God throughout the county and for God God just put it on everybody's heart to prepare for this storm as it comes in Jesus name we pray amen amen please join me in the pledge pledge to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for it stands one nation God individual with liy and justice for all thank you commissioner Pickins thank you commissioner Wilkinson we're going to take a five minute recess e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e our bard of County Commission meeting if everybody find their see you okay there he comes all right thank you Mr Grimes we appreciate it here let me one Z all right so we're going to move our agenda around just a little bit we're going to go to Bard of County Commissioners tropical storm Milton it's actually hurricane now our state of local emergency as you know over the weekend on Saturday the governor declared a state of emergency naming putam County and numerous other counties in Florida and on Sunday morning at 8 o' sign the resolution so today's our ability to ratify the signing of that resolution and it's resolution to make uh yes sir but when we get ready to make the uh the approval if you would read it by by as title so we can get a motion in a second to approve uh but Mr chairman as you know you know we uh we activated theoc at level two on Sunday morning at 8:00 uh we went ahead uh Deputy Mayor Jr Grimes who's also over Public Safety made the decision to go ahead and pull our PWS folks in and get all of our uh sent bag sites open and do as much as we could to get prepped because we're going to get inundated with a ton of of rain a lot of areas are going to flood we all just watched the 8:30 um uh National Weather Service briefing we're looking at rain we're looking at 3 to five foot of storm surge in the river itself what they told us is that uh the um history shows that anybody that flooded during Irma Matthew and Nicole can expect that again um our folks in the dun duns Creek Area Federal Point area Cedar Creek area those areas are certainly going to have some significant flooding I'm afraid but I'll I'll won't share any more of that I'll wait for uh Deputy Administrator Grimes to give a give an update but I just to commission to know and the citizens of P County know that we went ahead and went in storm mode yesterday uh Mr Grimes and myself and Miss Young where they see until late uh Mr Grims myself and fire rescue went out and rode the entire County and started putting um a debris map together I believe our debris management contract guy is here today and they'll be running throughout the county trying to pick everything that they can pick up that's currently from the last storm Helen to try to get us prepped and ready to go for this one and so uh we're doing as much prep work we can for this one being backtack storms so uh where we're at let's go ahead and pass the resolution then I'm going to have Deputy gr Deputy County Manager GR give an update Mr chair I move approval of resolution 2024-the County Florida declaring a state local emergency due to Tropical Storm Milton adopting executive order 24-24 issued by the governor of Florida pursuant to chapter 252 Florida Statutes and putam County ordinance Article 2 specifically section 16 through 19 through 16 through 26 and providing an effective date prop proper motion proper second any further discussion on the motion at hand hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I oose like sign the eyes have it public safety director Deputy County Comm County Administrator Grimes you have the floor sir good morning Commissioners and uh citizens uh thank you for your time this morning uh Mr Suggs hit some highlights uh just like there let everybody know that our sand bag locations are up and running um they've been up and running all day yesterday and today uh if you happen to be go by one and there's nothing there we're trying to monitor them as fast as possible they will be monitored this morning uh sometime around noon today and before our folks um go home this evening uh did add a couple um additional sites um as as some people may have saw on the call but I'd like to just let the citizens also know um that we opened one Cedar Creek at the boat ramp uh for that Northern P portion up there um up off of Cedar Creek Road that should be up and running this morning uh we also took a public works dump truck to drton Island this morning to put um bags on drton island for those residents so they didn't try to have to come off and on the island with sandbags in a boat um our normal places are open uh which is at the Huntington lot off of County Road 308 in Crescent City um East patka public Public Works office SL Ballfield right there off of putam County Boulevard um the town of WEA has one open at Sportsman's Harbor um for all the down that way it's where the lift station is and I think that's on um Sportsman's Drive uh Paradise Point and duns Creek at the very end of um horse Landing Road go down into the point um that's where we see most of our significant thing that duns Creek area so there is a sandbag location there as well as the penile Church Administrative Office uh which was so graciously allowed us to put it there during our last heavy rainfall event uh that is restocked also the bon fire department um covered Cedar Creek Chester pit and um also said Dron Island uh just everybody knows we have prorm ordered uh we did get confirmation that the the food which is in will be here sometime today we've also ordered another truckload of water uh we've ordered 2,000 tarps and we also have ordered a Sal team from the state division in the forestry along with nursing staff um to staff the special needs shelter at Kelly Smith um and also we have ordered um shelter staff from the the um American Red Cross uh we just have not got confirmation that all those orders will be done um so that kind of stuff is is in the works now um some of it's been in since yesterday uh but uh fire rescue is currently working on their Staffing plan we will mobilize our high water vehicles um just to have them stay periodically throughout the county um we'll run one probably out of the EOC we'll have one in um that Bon area off of Bon road which flooded and hurt the um hurricane I think it was Irma we'll also have them in Waka duns Creek um and also up in the area around that Cedar Creek area uh but we do want to make sure people do understand we have to prepare for a worst case scenario um and the worst case scenario on this one is 10 to 15 Ines of rain during the storm okay that's the worst case the worst case scenario is Hurricane force winds along that St John's River Basin that is important that you know if you feel like you're in unpredictable structure please utilize our shelters please let us take care of you rather take care of you pre- storm than what we would After the Storm um or during um Public Works did a great job yesterday they've got the major County Roads cleaned as far as the large debris that went down during um Helen that stuff was moved into some different areas yesterday we actually opened up our Huntington site uh dog Branch uh pit in east Paca also I think they moved some in that the business park there behind Sykes and also Chester pit to try to start so didn't have quite such a hall to get it to a location so it all did not go to Central yesterday um so sanitation is out this morning um we may end up using some different um debris haulers today sometime and tomorrow to try to get some stuff out of these lowline areas uh Mr Tilton's Cruise route currently right now picking up as fast as we can um other than that we didn't get any local requests out of the any of the municipalities um we check on them at least two to three times a day to make sure they have any unmet needs and we'll be sure to fulfill them um also sandbags bring a shovel uh we did Supply them but sometimes they leave so to make sure that you do have everything that you need make sure you do bring a shovel with you um and if you don't mind leave ours there um so other than that that's pretty much the update right now we just want to make sure our community knows to take this seriously this is not going to be one of those ones that just comes in here and goes away real fast I think we're in for a long term of recovery um we looked at I mean yesterday we heard that the high tide cycle we're not even going to see until the 21st of October um which will be well after we've gone past the storm because that water's going to be trapped it's going to come in that South you know everything you get in that South Central Florida area does feed into our River um it can't get out because when that hurricane goes off the coast of the East Coast it's going to SLO that water back in it from the north and it's going to get held right here so um people particularly along that um Federal Point area um they call it racy Point East Paca um Deep Creek um we like a duns Creek please please please take this serious um you could see 3 to 5 ft above the median high tide um so that's halfway up anybody's car doors up to the roof of your car so uh just to give it some kind of comparison so please please please take this series U Mr chairman at this time that I think that' be all my comments okay Mr s you want to talk about the Sheltering real quick oh I'm sorry I could take care of that um thank you Mr chairman uh we did talk about Sheltering with the school district I've got another call with them at uh 10:30 to work out some Logistics um right now preliminary we're going to open Sheltering Tuesday night at 6 PM um special needs will get set up a little bit earlier um and also for anybody watching please uh register or call the health department I'll have to get you a phone number uh to call Stephan you may be able to help me with that um if you're qualified for special needs and you need transport into one of our facilities please let us know as early as possible uh because if I have to transport you and I'm going to put additional ambulances online to make sure we get the people there uh pre- storm but um our call center will be open today at noon um the phone number for that is 329 1 1904 area code 386 3291 904 and we can start the process through so we can get you in touch with the health department or any of the other uh agencies that we need to do U pre- storm but please um qualify if if you have a loved one or somebody that needs special needs whether it be medical oxygen or they need they're bedridden and they need to stay in a um special need shelter please get them qualified through fdoh uh pre- storm so uh with that I think I think that's all the information we have on Sheltering what shelters are going to be open and which one's pet friendly thank you okay that's okay K Kelly Smith Elementary is our special needs shelter general population is going to be Middleton Bernie Elementary School in Crescent City brownie Pierce Elementary School in San Mato uh Kelly Smith is your special needs and you will have Robert H Jenkins Middle School in inin and Aquilla is the pet friendly shelter so anybody that has a pet that needs to come to the shelter with them you'll have to utilize Aquilla they will not allow pets into the general population shelters other than um aquill elementary school so um I think that now has it unless the chairman can remember things I forgot so um we're all we're a team on this Mr s uh yes sir uh thank you as you know uh Mr chairman I I I got the phone call Saturday evening and reached out to each one of my Commissioners about uh the uh the issue that we're fixing be facing in the short turnaround I appreciate the uh the quickness of putting a meeting together this morning and I appreciate uh Deputy Administrator grimes's uh update on all the calls from the National Weather Service you know as you know when I said that we activated EOC yesterday it because we brought all of our Public Works folks in and Public Safety folks in and start doing uh prep work for this impending storm you know when we when we talk about uh the closure of County offices I don't want people to think that those folks just went home uh that is when all the work behind the scenes is being done to make sure that this community is getting the best protection it can get when that EOC is activated full activation beginning tomorrow uh evening we'll have anywhere between 40 and 50 County employees in there along with along with the health department Schoolboard and other agencies throughout the county assisting with their with the uh uh support functions and then you also got all of your other staff your Public Works folks and your fire rescue folks and everybody else out there doing what they can and sanitation uh throughout the the event and then post event so uh you know there's a lot that goes on as you can tell we've done a lot since yesterday morning at 8 o'cl actually since Saturday evening when Mr Grimes called me with the uh with the update of the storm uh so uh I think out of the caution and and after conversations with our chairman and our public safety director giving us the update you know we talked about this yesterday and again this morning I think it's going to be very critical for us to go ahead and do the things that are necessary not only for our staff but to put people in position to get where they need to be I think when you look at closing the uh uh the the county offices uh starting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and probably through Friday and reopening again Monday following this event because if we have the significant flooding that we've had during Irma Matthew and Nicole we're going to have a lot of work to do to get this County back up and running so that's my suggestion Mr chairman all right Mr chairman I'm sorry I did forget two things um that's okay the EOC will go into level1 operations at, 1800 or 600 p.m. on Tuesday and I'd be remissed if I didn't thank our fire rescue folks from yesterday they drove and with Mr SS and I the entire County U to try to get what debris we could find on the side of the roads so that we could create a map we've got a really nice and thank you to Our IT department for making an interactive map so that we can pick up and we know exactly where everything is so that that'll help us recover faster and if you didn't you you haven't seen the map but yesterday morning it was just a couple dots and today it's completely loaded and we do appreciate that because that that's going to help the job a whole lot easier so Commissioners any comments yes yes M are you making any recommendations for evacuations or um I know we have some obviously some concerns about the low-lying areas yes ma'am um we're going to do probably some recommended evacuations as this thing comes closer we just don't want to get out there too quick uh I mean I'm sure we're going to probably see some recommended evacuations um along the way way U I don't know that we'd ever hit a mandatory cuz mandatory evacuation does trigger some things um that I learned this morning such as um the dam quits operating in a mandatory evacuation and we may need that tool um along along the ride so I don't want to do that so that resource is still up and running but we'll probably have some strongly encouraged evacuations in some of the lowline areas but we'll put out a zone map Emergency Management has passed out some um stuff via the social media post last couple days to figure out what flood zone you're in it's also being poured out by the state um and we will probably talk later today on what type of evacuation we want to look at into which zones uh depending on where it's going to hit in our tide cycles along the way but we will absolutely push that out as fast as possible and then all of our Community Partners and people sitting in the room today please if you see the information from our Emergency Management social media please please please spread that word so that we can touch as many people as we can uh we're on the radios we're on the um news uh that's being covered now um but also follow our um social media pages I don't know what they all are um but they're they're out there so um thank you Mr so you have another comment yes sir yes sir uh Mr Grimes touched on it right there at the end and i' I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you how valuable of a tool that u5 allowed us to put in with a new communication system for Public Safety as Mr gri said we were writing this entire County yesterday and to be able to have that communication back and forth was invaluable so uh as County administrator again uh what a great tool that we were able to utilize this at during this event now would being able to have Public Safety throughout the county I agree thank you I agree okay commissioner any other comments yeah Mr chairman I have Mr Question um J you may have went over this but I know before the last uh with Matthew and Arma that you staged uh different equipment in in various parts of the County are you going to do that cuz I know a lot of equipment has been you know been in District 2 so I just make sure we spread that around but seriously if you're going to have something south of the dun Creek Bridge yes sir we we will always mobilize um and put stuff um strategically staged throughout the county probably at our fire stations where we'll have a couple of The Operators probably um in attendance as well so yes we do put some um on that we have all of our skid steers um excavators that we can move via small trailer they are loaded and on a trailer that they're not using this morning um Mr Tilton usually puts his big escavator on a lowboy that's pre-staged and also the one out of Public Works gets pre-staged throughout the county um but we also have a huge partner in the Florida state division of Forestry or Florida Forest Service uh their dozers will be in um around our County so there is a couple of those that are staged in U Hollister floor home Waka um and I think there's one in Hawthorne and probably one in Bostwick uh so all those resources are still out there if they not they haven't got deployed somewhere else but we do normally have all that stuff staged but yes to answer your question this the equipment will be up and mobilized and ready and ready to go okay thank you one other question go ahead M um are we considering leaving the landfill open maybe an extra hour tonight or anything um for people who work and can't get there by 5 o' doesn't it normally close at 5 yes ma'am Mr Tilton um I thought I saw him maybe he left but that could be absolutely something we can do that was yes okay I I actually texted Mr uh Tilton knowing this conversation may be happening and letting know that we're possibly going to consider that so I'll have a conversation with Mr Tilton following this meeting and if we need to have to have somebody out there we'll figure it out we'll make it happen thank you all right good any other comments okay this is a public meeting so we're going to give the public a chance to come up and speak please be mindful that you have 3 minutes and time will be kept so is there anybody in the public that would have any comments that they'd like to share anybody coming up then we'll close the public comment County Administrator Mr sug No Sir Mr chairman I have no further comments other than please please be mindful of the message that's being being put out by the uh Public Safety Office and Emergency Management pay attention to your needs make sure you get your supplies in order today and tomorrow uh take care of your your personal uh surroundings and and be prepared and let's get through this okay commissioner adamack um I would just say that based on the comments I heard if you're in one of those areas that flooded in a prior hurricane um and you're in accessive you're in a mobile home or a structure that's not as solid as maybe a brick house or something um you may want to consider evacuating as soon as possible in my opinion so thank you sir Mr Turner the only thing I'd like to add is um it's a lot easier to be prepared and not need it than not be prepared and need it so if you if you think you need to do something chances are you really do pick up something around your house your lawn chairs your plants your flowers especially the lighter ones and like I said I know that we've had multiple ones of these in the last few years and so it's getting we're all getting a little burnout I got a feeling this is not going to be one of them we want to turn our back on this one coming right here so uh I just want to impress on everybody to go ahead and get ready go ahead and pick up the stuff around your house where you're not doing it during the wind event so I think that's all I have Mr chair thank you Mr Turner Mr Pickins yeah I Echo those uh comments definitely um I live on the river and the water has already come up some from uh Friday so we know uh in low Lar what's going to happen it's going to come in your yard it's going to come over your bulkheads uh so you're going to have this flooding U everybody's seen what it's done uh in Sportsman Harbor and waca I just urge everybody to prepare and and actually plan to kuate uh if necessary and I just want to thank our staff administrator Suggs put it very well is that just as the county closes it's just this office that's closed and there's still people here uh but out at the EOC they all take on a different role and I just want thank everybody who involved in Public Works Emergency Services our staff law enforcement about what they're already have done and what they will do through this old storm thank you before I call on commissioner Wilkinson Mr Grimes you have a this is just a kind of a post storm ask is as soon as the storm passes please don't get out and drive around give our Emergency Services Workers and our power Crews an opportunity to get out there and make the streets safe for you uh power lines are dangerous there's going to be there're going to be down they're going to be in trees that you don't see so please give them the opportunity we will get this County cleaned up we will get it open uh we will work around the clock until it is but please give us an opportunity to get it done first before we injure somebody that is unneeded um so we will have fpnl is a great partner of ours they will be sitting in our EOC they will bring in a u what they call a hot shot crew that goes out in Deen's power lines so that our fire rescue and emergency or Public Works folks can get out and get them um shoved off the road so we can get people out and get them the necessary supplies into them but please please please stay off the roads until we get them give us at least a day or day and a half afterwards just to make sure I know it's it's it's it's boring sitting at home post storm but more people that are out there getting in the way you you really are in the way um so as we're trying to maneuver crews around I mean we're going to be running tractors and skid steers and stuff down the road if we're not having to deal with obstructions of traffic would be wonderful so thank you sir okay and Mr Turner real quick before good U yes and I know that uh that director Grimes has got to be a little more careful than I do so I'm going just say it if you live in if you live in duns Creek if you live in Sportsman's Harbor if you live at Federal Point get the hell out I mean it's going to get bad it's going to the river is going to back up it's already Rising they're not going to be able to get in there to you even in a high water vehicle s six years ago when when that one flooded real bad which was under the same scenario as this one which is a nor Easter that's going to last several days to back water up and then not let the water get out again with multiple days of rain and then behind that you've got a hurricane coming it was over my knees deep down at Sportsman's Harbor they're not going to be able to get in there to you if you live in one of these areas make a plan go to a shelter go somewhere and not stay there you're going to be waste Deep in water outside of your front door leave those areas that are not that are going to flood we know they're going to flood so I know that there's no mandatory here but I highly suggest y'all get out of there cuz it's going to flood those areas sorry Mr chairman go ahead no commissioner Wilkinson you other the floor um yeah I would just want to make what uh commissioner Turner said and add Cedar Creek area to that that's in my district and we uh strongly encourage everyone that's in those low areas to take this seriously U prepare and every Everybody in the community needs to prepare but it's particularly those in the low lion areas um for the flooding so so take this serious thank you and my final comments are simply this you know what's coming be prepared we have great staff that is preparing uh all scenarios for you but the only scenario they can't do is you and you've got to protect yourself and your family so please do what they they suggest that you do and take heed to that if there's no other comments or questions Mr chairman and I and I as we keep moving on I'll keep coming up with more but please check on your neighbor check on your early neighbor make sure they're prepared for the storm um if there's anything we can do as the county is to get somebody ready we'll deploy every resource we can to people ready for this but um I think it's just really important that we check on our on our neighbors and post storm um work with them with an open heart because it's it's going to be bad so all right thank you no further comments this meeting is adjurned thank you