##VIDEO ID:elPM5a4CUd0## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right good morning everyone um this is an Emer Mercy meeting of the Board of Commissioners the city of Treasure Island on Wednesday September 25th 2024 at 9:00 a.m. I'll call our meeting to order um and start with a roll call please commissioner Toth ex excused vice mayor doctor excused commissioner Minn here commissioner dicki here mayor Payne here thank you thank you all right our um only item of business on our agenda this morning is a proclamation declare in a state of local emergency due to her tropical storm Helen um and we'll go ahead and start off and ask our we didn't have the Pledge on the um agenda but should we go ahead and do that all right we'll do Pledge of Allegiance first I pled to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right yeah if we can have our um fire chief give us a little update on the storm and what we can expect so that our residents are are informed that would be great absolutely thank you mayor and Commissioners um so what we use is the program that the county is looking at as well and I brought that up on the display here is called herac it's based on um scientific data from uh years of storm actual storm data and it's a predictive software that has proven to be pretty accurate in the past so that's what the County's looking at when they're making their decisions on evacuations and EOC timing and that sort of stuff so um what we have is the tropical storm as it sits now and this is the projected cone um remember that cone is not the Windfield it's not the expected area of impact it is based on 5 years of data of prediction error um where the center of the eye could be so the the eye could be Far West which would be great for us this is the forecast track up the middle and based on the error in the forecast the eye could come up this right side as well and as we get closer to Florida we well that that you can expect that to move so we we do a predictive a best mid and worst a BMW model um so best case scenario it stays to the west and we have minimal impact and we you know we're basically they standing by um worst case scenario we have to prepare for which could be you know severe flooding on the island um we compensate for that by ordering evacuations and the factor there is the time the diminishing time between that what it requires to do a full scale evacuation to move a 100,000 people or more um Inland in a safe place from from storm surge and um knowing what the forecast is doing at that point so at some point we lose the ability to to step up to the worst case scenario so we've got to be prepared for that which means when it's a beautiful blue day blue skies day outside we're ordering evacuations which can be tough for some folks so we just ask that that folks stay tuned in to penis. and he the Emergency Management advice um all municipalities and districts are taking lead from the county and uh that's where we're getting our information so as it currently sits this is um what we're looking at for storm predicted storm track uh I'm going to add in this is a huge storm um 250 mile wide impact so this is the tropical storm force wind impact that shaded area if you throw that in there so um the next thing I'll add here is the most likely arrival time of tropical storm Forest winds and if you see we're here so we're looking at Thursday uh midm morning to start seeing those 39 mph plus tropical storm Forest winds so with that in mind uh the city is going to be is setting up our eocc and going to full EOC Staffing um at some point this evening and that'll be off the island it a secure location which is uh outside of the predicted flood zone so we can continue to provide management and Leadership services from there and decision- making um continuity of government and we have all of our Vital resources for Public Works fire and police there to be able to immediately come back on the island after flooding subsides um and then the last thing I would like to show you is the potential flooding so again this is based on data from years of storms predictions and actual data so me down here is a map segment that should look familiar to everyone here's Treasure Island um what this is calling for is is the red is 9 ft or or greater and the Orange is 8 ft or greater I'm sorry 6 feet or greater so we're looking at a at based on the current path and prediction and intensity of the storm we're looking at a pretty devastating flooding for the island is that based on information from yesterday is there a newer advisory no this is this is um constantly updated okay so and I will tell you that that um um it has jogged a little West overnight so we're looking at the the the official word from pelis County on their information is 5 to eight feet so um this is uh gives us again worst case scenario so the county is leading more towards the mid-case scenario at this point leaning towards what uh the mid yeah we do a BMW a best worse and mid the county is leaning toward Wards the mid-case scenario at this point which is they're calling for 5 to 8T to put that in reference for idalia we recorded four feet of actual surge water in cleara beach that was the highest point of surge in pelis County Clea Beach and then on the Bay Side um you know St Peters St Petersburg got that in the historically flooding neighborhoods there but four feet is what we got from Adelia and we had uh over 140 homes with significant water damage in Sunset Beach alone for Adelia so that's end of my report and let there's questions mayor if I could Chief you did say um if a declaration or EXC mandatory evacuation was going to be ordered who would be doing that good question so the county orders the mandatory evacuations and all the all the evacuations come through the emergency manager at the county um and they're they're looking at the same data that's why I wanted to bring this up so you know we're all getting our information from the same place um potentially we could see and I expect to see this morning a mandatory level a evacuation which would include all of Treasure Island thank you yep um shelters are open they were uh stocked and staffed last night healthc care evacuations um in the effected level a areas have been completed or are being completed currently um we have have Schoolboard buses at fire stations we are making our rounds for our special needs that's electrical medically electrical dependent oxygen dependent um folks who can't go to a general shelter who need um basically some medical support at a shelter we're picking those up this morning between uh 12: and 1 this afternoon do have a question Chief normally when we have a flood event uh ready to take place we open up up the public parking lots on West Golf Boulevard for the local residents to move their car because it is a bit higher ground there on those parking lots right off of West Gulf uh given what you just said that parking there doesn't seem to to be a good solution for this storm right we we did that on the last uh lower tropical storm that we had where we were expecting one to three feet and um and that was a good solution there but at this Point um I don't think those parking lots would be a safe place to park your vehicle and that being said I would I would also like to take the opportunity to remind everyone and we're pushing this through our public information broadcast but if you have an electric vehicle uh those batteries and salt water do not mix if if you can get it off the island if you can't put it in the street um Street park it on the side of the street do not leave it in your garage or within 20 ft of your house because they do tend to catch fire when they get salt water intrusion okay thank you pelis county is holding a press conference right now and they did officially announced the mandatory Zone a evacuation yes I I had heard 9:00 but I didn't want to speak out of turn I just double checked so that does include all of Treasure Island correct yes yeah we are all a level a all the island all right any other questions yeah um GE I find myself uh puzzled conflicted if you will um I look at the models the GFS and the European model and all the other models and um those models enable you to go pinpoint on Treasure Island at any particular time it gives you the wind field and I'm sure you know yes yep and when I look at those and the and the worst case scenario that I can find on there I think is the GFS um and that's for like I'm going to call it 40 plus mph uh winds and those don't shift to on Shore until tomorrow afternoon uh up until that point in time I think we talked about yesterday right um they're either parallel the shore or they're offshore and so if they're parallel or offshore I don't see the storm surge being wind generated at least that's my impression um and so it appears to me that there's a short window in there when the wind directions are favorable and the strength is favorable for an onshore push storm surge and that push if you look at the models goes from 40 it's just almost a straight line down in terms of wind strength M uh Direction basically stays the same out of the West and so in my head I look at that and I say how can we get five to eight feet of storm surge with that Windfield and in those directions and I I I can't rationalize it I can't I can't come to the same conclusion that's why I feel inflicted in this I I understand completely I you know you look at it from that that Layman's person not neither of us are meteorologists right I don't fully understand it either I know uh Storm from my experience and from what I understand about meteorology the storm takes a bubble of water with it um we were told yesterday during a briefing um from the flood plane managers at the county that we really won't have a low tide on Thursday that uh the the water will not recede and then we can expect 12 hours of substantially above normal uh water you know from the from the storm surge so um we have a mantra in Emergency Management that's um you know run from the water hide from the wind so the wind is really not a factor other than that um it drives water as you're saying so um I the best I can tell you is I understand and and I've got to go with what the predictions call for is is you know trying to keep as many people safe as possible I urge everyone to adhere to the mandatory evacuation we're not going to we're not going to physically remove anyone from the island but there there may very well come a point and we're putting folks on notice that um if the flooding gets bad enough we may not be able to come provide 911 services to you if the wind takes out the cell towers and the phone lines you may not be able to reach 911 um you know in past storms once once the the wind speed and the flooding reaches a certain amount the 911 call takers will tell you you know thank you for calling we'll put you on the list as soon as a safe to do so we'll get to you and and that could be ours so we we urge folks um You probably won't have electricity you probably won't have um there's potential you won't have pressurized water um lift stations could overflow you could have plenty of el electricity sewer and water but they're all going to be in the streets not where you expect them so you know with those dangers in mind I I would urge everyone to evacuate when ordered well I don't think that for you in your position you have any other choice I can't no I can't take any other position yeah I mean I thank you for understanding yeah understand that as well and that's the way I feel as well um I don't like to go against City Hall but I also feel I have a reasonable understanding of meteorology yeah um and and it just gets conflicted and what I get concerned about is is Crying Wolf I was just going to say is there's a danger in that as well yep yep and uh you know so we have mandatory evacuation we put the fear of God in people to get you get your butts out of here um and then all of a sudden maybe we have two feet of storm surge which everybody can right reasonably AC accommodate and everybody looking around and saying what the heck why' you do this right why' you do this to and back to the graphic I showed you at first um we can go back here again so back to this one the storm is still um you quite a ways off you know down you know Yucatan Peninsula area so it's got a zig and a zag to make and and how accurate do we predict that and at some point when the storm is here and when we're here where where the cursor is you know we lose the ability to respond because time is no longer here for us so believe me I appreciate your position I'm not degrading that one bit and mayor if I could if you if you notice on the graphic once you get through with what you talked to Chief look at the speed of the storm and how it picks up I I think that's where we have that diminishing return on you know that factor for safety so the advice is to have the mandatory evacuation until tell people to really think about it because if it stays true to that track and it picks up the speed of the storm we lose the ability to react yeah we expect rap rapid intensification and Rapid increase in forward speed so again time will compress as today moves forward um things will start happening very quickly you know it's beautiful day out right now but you know that's going to that's going to change and and our window to take effective action is is diminishing so well the good the good news side of that is it goes away just as quick yes it's going to move through quickly yep yeah and and again I'll point out a 20 mile difference in the center of the eye this far out you know magnifies as as you just do do the geometry as we get closer that that brings it you know 150 miles closer as it gets passing us yeah so little zags and zigs or JS we call them little jogs this far out make a huge difference as it continues on that New Path that's why we have such a wide forecast cone of error perfect well thank you Chief you're welcome um at this point I'll entertain a motion to approve the proclamation okay I move to approve and authorize the mayor to execute the proclamation declaring a state of local emergency for the city of Treasure Island Florida and response to Tropical Storm Helen second all right it's been moved and seconded um do we have any further discussion from the commission question I was hoping Jen would be here because is online oh she is yeah so she can hear you if you have questions yeah can we piggyback on this with um the Phil emergency fill ordinance I would I would not live with myself if I didn't ask that question can you hear us Jen how about [Music] now I would feel pretty confident that since we don't even have an ordinance drafted at this point that we wouldn't be able to do that yeah we would have to have something to be able to vote on so we won't be able to sit here until something's drafted but yeah not to mention a couple public hearings and stuff like okay but your comment is noted commissioner yeah did CH Chim in she may have just had to step away or something prob yeah she's going to respond by chat okay yes but that was answering she hear us but now it's quiet she was answering yes she can hear us but now it's quiet ask ask the question again for her commissioner Min could you please ask the question commissioner minning could you please ask the question again oh um considering this is an emergency order um can we not tack on the emergency um fill ordinance on top of this commissioner man there's a little bit of echo here um without Jen being able to get online you know I I don't think that it would be appropriate to try and put on an emergency ordinance here for Phil because we don't have the parameters and we don't have the associated guidelines for individual from the storm water perspective of you know if you just said you can bring in Phil you know we don't have the parameter to be able to identify what people would need to do if they brought that fill in and for whatever purpose it would take too long to do and I think the emergency order is only good for seven days if I recall correctly right that's correct so well I had to ask all right well thank you but I I think without Jen being able to tag it I would just offer that yeah yeah I understand all right any other discussion all right roll call please commissioner dicki hi commissioner Manning hi mayor Payne I thank you thank you all right are there any other items that need to come before the commission today all right we're adjourned thank you everyone