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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05-24-2006 St. Lucie County Unified Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Steering Committee Meeting Minutes May 24, 2006 Attendants: Larry Nadeau, Chair for the Committee, City of PSL Bill Hoeffner, Saint Lucie County Bill Thiess, Fort Pierce Utilities/St. Lucie Village (10:40) Nick Mimms, City of Fort Pierce David Thompson, Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Roberta Breene, Saint Lucie County Carmen Capezzuto, City of Port Saint Lucie Bob Massa, Saint Lucie County Schools Danita Morgan, City of Fort Pierce James Moses, SLC Health Department Bette Holeva, SLC Health Department Christa Razem, City of Fort Pierce Marty Sanders, SLC School District Meeting Announcement: This meeting was announced at the 4/18/2006 meeting to the attendees of that meeting.An email was also sent to known members of the Steering Committee. 1. Welcome: Mr. Larry Nadeau, Chairman, opened the meeting and thanked Mr. Sanders for inviting the group to the School District location. 2. April Meeting Minutes: Read, but not approved due to the lack of a quorum. 3. HMGP Funding Reduction: Mr. Nadeau and Mr. Hoeffner noted that at the April meeting a discussion had been held regarding the $26 million available for the County under Funds 1545 (Frances) and 1561 Jeanne). Although most projects on the County’s list had been approved, this sum has now been reduced by about 50% to fund a project favored by the Governor. Mr. Hoeffner passed out project spreadsheets and explained that there is now $5.8 million for Frances and $7.8 Million for Jeanne which totals $13.6 million. As discussed at the April meeting, our projects now total $14,973,000 for Frances and $18,554 for Jeanne, and we need to adjust the projects to match the funds now available. There are three options: (1) drop a project, (2) submit it for the next funding tier, or (3) reduce the amount. Mr. Minns suggested that perhaps all the projects could be reduced by the same percentage after any that could be were dropped. Ms. Breene expressed concern that losing a percentage of funding for each project could jeopardize every project. Mr. Theiss said that St. Lucie Village would not be able to afford the projects if funding were to be cut in half. LMS Steering Committee Meeting Page 2 May 24, 2006 Mr. Nadeau explained that after a disaster occurs, an assessment is made after 90 days, six months, 12 months and 18 months. Seven and 1/2 percent of that amount is available for HMGP funds. The funding level was locked in at six months due to the Governor’s directive. Mr. Nadeau would like to see funding controlled by the local government and not taken by the State. The poor timing of the reduction was noted. 4. Ranking Procedure: Mr. Hoeffner noted that the way we ordered projects under Francis and Jeanne has made a difference that we did not anticipate. We ordered the priority projects first under Frances and then under Jeanne. He suggested that number one should have been under Frances, number two under Jeanne, etc. to achieve the correct prioritization order. A discussion was held regarding whether we could now shift projects from one funding category to the other. Ms. Razem made a phone call Hank Erikson, Planning Manager with the Division of Emergency Management in Tallahassee, who said the Committee cannot shift projects. It was discussed how to prioritize the projects and whether we could change projects that have been approved. Mr. Hoeffner said the LMS ranking procedure would have to be changed to change the priorities. Since the LMS procedure had been adopted by the four jurisdictions, he believes changes to the procedure would have to go to the board of each of those. Mr. Minns questioned the subjectivity of the evaluations. Mr. Massa asked who ranked the School District’s projects. Mr. Hoeffner said that the prioritization process was very objective and done by LMS guidelines. Mr. Hoeffner handed out samples of Form Three, pages from the LMS manual that describes the procedure and explained how the scoring was done. He noted that the fault of the system might actually be in the submittal of Form Three, which is subject to the interpretation of the person filling out the form. He suggested that, in the future, the Committee review each Form Three. Ms. Breene added that it would help consistency in the way we describe a project. Ms. Morgan suggested site visits or photographs, and Mr. Moses extolled the values of a good grant writer. Mr. Nadeau said there was not time for site visits and that, for this situation, the Committee is stuck with the rankings as we submitted them. 5. HMGP Project Reduction Discussion: With considerable discussion, and cooperation, the St. Lucie County Allocation Listing was reviewed, line by line, to determine which projects could be dropped or reduced to match the amount now being allocated. Mr. Sanders entered the changes into a computer spreadsheet as the discussion progressed. Fund 1545 (Frances): For the Fire District, no representatives were present. Project # 243 was left as it was. For St. Lucie Village Project #122 is a higher priority than # 161 (FPUA) and remains as submitted. It was decided that St. Lucie Village #117 and #119 also would be left on the list, with revised numbers of $15,377 and $7,920, respectively. For FPUA, Mr. Thiess indicated that Project #122 in St. Lucie Village is critical and a higher priority than Project #161. For FPUA, Mr. Theiss also said Project #161 could be reduced to $270,000. LMS Steering Committee Meeting Page 3 May 24, 2006 For the County, Ms. Breene indicated that Project #140 was the key priority, providing shutters for County buildings at a cost of $797,794, as submitted. Mr. Sanders suggested that, in the future, we work together on funding shutters for school buildings, special needs shelters and mold remediation. For Port St. Lucie, Mr. Capezzuto indicated that Project #97, DROW Culvert Replacement, is the top priority and already had been reduced from $2,800,000 to $2,100,000. For Fort Pierce, Mr. Mimms indicated that Project #198 is the top priority project as it affects about 70% of the city’s drainage. In addition, it threatens infrastructure and a much- needed urban renewal is based around the project. It was agreed to reduce Port St. Lucie’s #97 and Fort Pierce’s # 198 by $715,552 each. For Fort Pierce, Ms. Morgan stated that she is checking on funding for Project #193; but it is not their top priority. The project was removed. For the County. Ms. Breene recognized that, given the reduced funding under Fund 1545, there are inadequate funds allocated for #43 and therefore no decision is required at this time regarding this project. 1551 (Ivan): Mr. Nadeau noted that Abbiejean Russell Care Center was the only submittal under 1551. 1561 (Jeanne): Eligible project submittals need to be reduced from $18 Million to $7.8 Million. For the County, Project #249 is critical, and although it represents a large portion of the #1561 available funds, Ms. Breene said that, since the amount had been approved by the BOCC, she did not have the authority to reduce it, but would research it and report back. For Port St. Lucie, Mr. Capezzuto said that Projects #100, 102 and 103 cannot be reduced. For Port St. Lucie, Mr. Capezzuto said Projects #98, 99 and 101 could be dropped. For the School District, Mr. Sanders said Project #90 could be reduced to $4 Million For Fort Pierce, Mr. Minns agreed that if they had to drop a project, it would be #97. Regarding the Housing Authority, considering the remaining funds available at this time, Project #178 would have to be reduced to $817,481. Mr. Hoeffner explained that since there was not a quorum, the Committee could not approve the changes. Each jurisdiction would have to approve their changes. Mr. Nadeau asked Mr. Hoeffner to send the numbers to the members and the members to agree to the changes (See attached spreadsheet as submitted by Mr. Sanders). Mr. Hoeffner informed the group that in order to get the revised information to the State, there is a form that he would also forward to each jurisdiction. Ms. Breene indicated that all projects impact and influence everyone and that what we want as a committee is what is best for the community. Mr. Nadeau agreed that we must function as one unit and grow better together. We worked together today and need to perfect the system. 6. Bird Flu Pandemic: Mr. Moses volunteered that the Health Department is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic. There will probably not be a vaccine. The first wave is expected to last six to nine months. The second wave will be the second year. They are expecting a two- LMS Steering Committee Meeting Page 4 May 24, 2006 year situation where people will not want to meet in groups. Everyone will have personal and professional grief. We must respond in unison and meet the challenges together. The plan is to first protect infrastructure. They can’t protect 245,000 people. They can minimize. When the Health Department has completed its plan, they will start an education campaign. Very difficult decisions will have to be made. There will not be help available from other areas because they also will be affected. Supplies will be needed to be on-hand for six months. Deliveries cannot be made if drivers are sick. Overseas shipments may not be received. Wal-Mart and Publix understand how serious the situation could be and that turf wars would be unacceptable and would equal dead people. There will be deaths. There could be 84,000 people dead if they did nothing. The estimated number of orphans at the end of two years is 21,000 in just St. Lucie County. There is no place to run. The Health Department will conduct a mass mailing, have a PIO position at the Health Department, small group meetings and a tabletop exercise. Ms. Holeva said the National Red Cross is starting a campaign. How to isolate and how to take care of sick family members will have to be learned. Mr. Hoeffner suggested the governments explore how people can do their jobs from home. Mr. Nadeau suggested a presentation be given at a future LMS meeting. 5. Other: Mr. Nadeau indicated that funds for Wilma will probably be only a third of what was allocated for Frances and Jeanne. Due to a lack of quorum, the importance of updating the member list was also discussed. 6. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 P. M. THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2006, 9:30-11:30 CONFERENCE ROOM 3 OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 2300 VIRGINIA AVENUE, FORT PIERCE. Respectfully Submitted: Brenda Marlin