Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 5
Number 5, consider and take appropriate action regarding appropriate followup to address damage caused by recent wildfires and injuries suffered by county residents, including remaining fire issues, cleanup in Travis County, collaboration with fema and related issues.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners.
steve manila, t.n.r.
staff, and pete baldwin.
a couple things I wanted to accomplish today, we developed an application form for folks who need county assistance because they don't have insurance to cover the cost of debris removal, for example.
they don't have their own financial wherewithal to do that.
and the volunteer groups also indicate that they can't accommodate whatever that request is such as moving heavy debris into a pickup truck or into a dump truck.
the -- what I would like to do is go ahead and hand this out to you.
you had asked us to bring this back to you -- do you mind?
>> does that mean we don't -- does that mean we go on the property if they -- or do they have to bring the --
>> that would allow us to do that.
>> that would allow us to go on the property to assist them.
>> right.
their release, their permission to get on to the property, waiving liability, all of that.
>> all right, all right, that's --
>> I wanted to for the viewing audience, this is a stop gap provided by the county.
if you have another means of getting something done and if it doesn't get done, it creates a health hazardrd and if they will sign this form we will come on to their property and remove that.
>> all right.
>> the other thing, last week or the week before I presented to y'all a draft recovery action plan, and some of the items had to do with activities that were currently ongoing and we'll update you on that in a second here, but the other part of it was actual changes we would like to make or office of emergency management would like to make and we did not have dates or time frames included in that document I presented last week.
this does thought have that and maybe pete can go ahead at this point and talk about where they are with that.
>> can we take the documents one at a time?
>> sure.
absolutely.
>> so did we run the application on county assistance from private property owner by legal?
>> they have seen that, yes.
>> move approval of the proposed application.
>> second.
>> discussion on the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
pete?
>> good morning, pete baldwin, Travis County emergency management coordinator.
basically what we've been doing, been behind a little on this, we've been working on recovery issues with the reimbursement process.
all that.
but basically where we are is that as far as establishing that emergency services facebook page, we've had conversation and we have a meeting next week scheduled with the county i.t.
so we can get that set up correctly and where we can respond to questions that are posed on there at that point in time.
we also have had discussions, the fact is that in order to do this, as you know, we've got a total staff of three.
when we get into the middle of an activation, trying to respond to issues or post on facebook is kind of difficult at best.
so I think what we will be coming back to the court with is a recommendation, if you agree with it, that would allow departments underneath your control or others if their supervisors so agree that would allow us to borrow staff for periods of time during emergency operations activations whose sole purpose is to do the -- update the facebook and other electronic media that we might have.
now, danny hobby is going to be here in a couple of items behind us talking about the emergency services public information officer, but still that's just one person.
and when you start going into 24-hour operations, you really need a group of folks.
so we will put together a plan and bring back for you to look at, but this would just be borrowing employees from other departments for the work period to help us out.
so with that being said, we have been working with i.t.
very closely think our welcome back sight looks pretty good.
right now we have a lot of information on it, the county's website, and anything that comes new they post it and highlight it in red.
so we're posting a lot of good information on that right now.
we'll talk with them and see if there's anything we need to upgrade on that.
also we have received, the fire marshal's office has received a thousand copies of that ready, set go brochure, and we are taking the poll of our fire departments right now to see how many each of them want.
and so as soon as we get those numbers in place, we'll be back to you asking for permission to reprint that document to fill out those requests for the fire departments to distribute that document.
>> okay.
>> no questions for pete.
just a brief staff report from staff.
staff have been engaged with folks in the spicewood area primarily.
stacy, anything?
>> I just want to remind folks we have a permit line set up for folks want to go rebuild, replace structures that may have been damaged by fire.
they can call (512)854-7593.
we've done some pre-research on these properties and the idea is we will deliver a permit to -- to their property or temporary residence within Travis County the next business day.
we've had three property owners in the spicewood area take us up on this.
two of which requested that we waive fees, which is court decided to do last week, I believe, for folks whose insurance didn't cover it and couldn't otherwise afford to do it.
so that is still out there.
most of these properties are on septic systems. It is a good idea for these property owners to call the lcra, who is the jurisdiction responsible for these systems, find out where the systems are so they can avoid -- avoid damage to the system in their rebuilding efforts.
that number is (512)473-3216.
>> okay.
>> western advised some residents may have some water testing issues.
are they working through those?
>> I believe they are.
I think fema has opened up some assistance for well antiseptic testing.
-- and septic testing.
>> howard is the person who actually meets with the people on site and assesses how to go about cleaning off debris.
do you have anything for them?
>> yes.
we've obviously been engaged in the last six weeks in right-of-way clearing to those fire areas off paleface ranch road.
we are completely that process as we speak now.
we've also moved on one -- one location now that had gone through the clearinghouse through the volunteer group out there, we moved on that site and have cleared the debris there and are waiting, I think there's two more in the process that we're waiting on to get clearance.
and as soon as they come through, we'll move on to those.
>> Commissioner Eckhardt has a question.
>> sure.
>> what number do they need to call with regard to debris removal?
>> the clearinghouse phone number --
>> there's actually a number on the form that they fill out.
>> okay.
and --
>> and one thing that we have worked with that long-term recovery committee on is we would like for those requests to be generated and vetted up through this long-term recovery, the spicewood long-term recovery committee because they know the personnel and their residents very well out there.
and so we've asked that all those requests that come up be vetted through that long-term committee, then to us for consideration.
>> and how do folks get ahold of the spicewood long-term recovery committee?
>> they are out in the field every day.
they are going -- I mean if they need to, they can show up at the grace outreach church at 20,808 highway 71 west.
>> okay.
is there a central spot where people can go to to get all of these various numbers because I've got one number for permitting, another number for tceq septic, which is not us but still a number we can disseminate.
another telephone number for debris.
and then we've got spicewood and the church.
do we have one single spot where someone can go to get all -- to get all their information?
>> from my standpoint, everything that we get when it comes out like this well and septic testing from fema assistance, I personally send that to pastor tommy willborn, who is the chair of the long-term recovery committee in spicewood.
and so I have been funneling everything through that.
if we have additional numbers, once again, we can post them on the Travis County website, but I always strive to make sure that we get that information to that long-term recovery committee so they have that information at hand for residents that are looking for it.
>> so is all this information currently on the Travis County website?
>> I have not checked in the last day or two.
I'm not sure if you were looking for the -- I don't know if the permitting number is or not.
>> we've got central Texas wildfire information.
>> we will make sure that goes on today.
>> my point is that -- I aplowed y'all in the effort to put together a communications plan because one thing that I'm concerned about having spent some time out there in now the new part of my precinct is that there was a dirth -- there was a lot of information, but nobody felt -- there was no pre-established credibility and a single source of information so they were getting lots of bits and pieces.
and so I would like us to work toward -- this is kind of a crass way to put it, but I think it gets to the point, building brand in information credibility.
I think we need to build a Travis County brand for information in times of nonemergency so that in times of emergency everyone knows I can go to this portal at Travis County and they will be loading it up with already vetted, known, credible information for me relevant to this disaster.
>> that is one of the items on the list of things we would like to enhance or change.
and there are exactly two sources of information.
the stuff that would apply to any disaster at any time, that would be the website pete is talking about.
and then during a disaster, the my face or similar type of communication tool.
>> yeah, and I do see on the splash page of the Travis County website the very first thing on the list is the central Texas wildfire information.
so thank you for that.
>> and I would add also that t.n.r.
is also going through the long-term recovery group with these applications for debris removal.
we ask that they vet it first and acknowledge that it's beyond their capabilities and if there's no one else to take care of it, then it would come back to us.
>> and I think that's part of the building the credible brand of information people know we're not -- we're vetting it first and if it's through our information portals, it's good.
solid.
>> Commissioner?
>> yes, sir.
>> in that list of things that you mentioned, is there room probably for adding to the area for those persons that may be seeking some type of tax relief to make sure that those properties that were damaged go through the tcad arena to get the proper -- as far as a single source of information to disseminate information, I wanted to make sure those persons that needed the tax relief effort from their properties would probably be added to that if it's something that you should consider.
>> we should probably note it where appropriate in the information that y'all are making available, that we already had voted the ability for tcad to appraise.
>> that information was sent out to the long-term recovery committee the day that we voted out.
>> and also you had identified specifically which houses had burned and so it went specifically to the residents that had burned.
>> I went -- I went through tcad provided them with information.
they have since come back and asked us to -- well, bottom line is their contract for their flyover services allows that if you have a presidentially declared disaster, that you get a free -- another free flyover or another flyover which would be free of charge.
so we will also be -- they will be able to verify all the addresses that we submitted to them by those additional flyovers after the fires.
so that's another good way to make sure that those properties were included.
>> right.
>> thank you for your efforts on that.
thank you.
>> john, anything on the hazardous -- household hazardous materials?
>> I guess I've been interested in about three different areas.
one is the debris removal and howard's group is taking care of that and doing a great job of that.
a special case of the debris removal would be dealing with household hazardous wastes.
there is always the possibility after disaster like this you might have some materials that require some special -- some special handling.
it appears at this point that most of the stuff that was involved in these fires is completely consumed.
we have given information to the long-term recovery group on how to -- on materials that might need to be handled separately and that they should alert us if they've got specific residences where materials have to be collected and handled.
they haven't identified any yet, but it is still possible there may be some.
the last time we were here talking about this, the judge had suggested that we talk to the folks in hays and in fayette county.
as a member of the solid waste advisory committee over at -- over at capcog, I'm, you know, fairly familiar with their operations.
as a followup to that and in particular I talked to tom meris, who is sort of the patron saint for their recycling and household hazardous waste program, and what they have is a citizen dropoff kind of system where residents can come, they have about half a dozen recycling centers, two of which actually handle household hazardous waste.
people drop the stuff off.
some of the stuff can go into sort of an exchange shed where people, you know, you bring in paint or certain things that are labeled and maybe usable by somebody else and they can sort of exchange those things.
the rest of it is just sort of collected and then they dispose of it through their contractor twice a year.
in hays county they've had a couple of -- they have a couple of annual events where they have citizen dropoff and those are funded through -- have been funded in the past through capcog with some grant funding that we've all voted on.
what Travis County has done for years is we have -- we have a contract with the city of Austin.
we actually support one position in their household hazardous waste program over there and then we spend another $65,000 a year or so on materials that all residents of the county can take over there.
now, we've provided that information to the residents out there in the spicewood area.
we've asked them to give us any kind of feedback on issues that they might have in terms of their immediate needs, and nothing really has come forward on that yet.
but, you know, there's still an opportunity.
there may be at some point.
the other thing I've been interested in is stabilization of landscape out there after the fire.
we've provided the fliers and fact sheets that the lcra uses to help people in terms of erosion and sedimentation control.
and our staff has been out there and I know they've also had city of Austin water protection staff, lcra staff, and they've had Texas forest service folks coming in so we're all talking to each other about things that can happen in terms of long-term stabilization.
mostly what we need is a nice gentle rain.
>> okay.
and just lastly, two final things.
we had developed or rose farmer from our natural resources group had developed an explanation of how we manage our preserves, and she -- okay.
if you don't mind, just tell where we are with that.
>> yes.
sorry.
we produced a document that talked generally about when we have wild lands, preserve lands specifically, but also county park lands, activities that we're engaged in to help our neighbors to be doing firewise activities on their properties and some activities that we're proposing to do on the preserve land.
so we've been meeting with a number of the homeowners association.
so this document that we wrote up just describes what our process is working with our neighbors around preserve lands.
>> you received comments from one so far.
>> yes.
>> and the last time I was here we had talked about public information officer.
in light of what office of emergency management is doing is getting their own public information officer for the emergency, I think we'll see how that works before we talk about adding any additional responsibilities to it.
obviously we could certainly use it for some of the things we do at t.n.r., but I don't think I could use a full-time person and just like to see how it works with danny's shop on that.
so we're not going to be pursuing that through t.n.r.
okay.
did y'all want to approve this recovery plan or just --
>> let us ask a few questions first, mr. Manila.
>> okay.
fair enough.
>> did we send the few emails that we received from residents regarding communication immediately after the wildfires to y'all?
>> I don't know about that.
>> I received one from danny hobby through -- I believe it came out of Commissioner Eckhardt's office through danny, but I've not seen many more.
if there are others, we'll be glad to address them.
>> I recall three or four, but they said about the same thing.
the other thing is that, jim, we talked about the need for a local declaration of some emergency status in order to approve the county going on to private property to assist with debris?
have we done that already?
>> well, they -- a declaration of local disaster, then that was extended with consent of the Commissioners court and it's still in place.
and this is one of the powers and duties that the county judge has during the state of disaster, to implement these types of remedies.
>> the one you are referring to was signed by our county judge?
>> yes, sir.
>> okay.
he's been a busy man.
>> [laughter] anything else on this item?
is there a motion?
>> I move approval of the recovery action -- wildfire recovery action plan.
>> seconded by Commissioner Davis.
discussion on the motion?
eye just think that we need to be shower that we emphasis and talk about communication, be that people emphasize that at the very top is the purpose for those who have no insurance and no financial resources to rely on this.
>> and besides that on the application form.
>> we can all get confused about little things, you know, and it just depends on the words that we use.
and so we just need to make absolutely sure that's plain.
>> we've also emphasized at some of the long-term recovery meetings that by signing this document you are assuring us, and it's a legal government document, that basically what we're trying to tell you if you need the help and this information is true, we're going to do everything we can to help you.
however, if the document -- if the information turns out to be not correct, there are other problems that you may run into.
so we've emphasized that.
>> great.
okay.
>> I would just add this crew has been meeting weekly with this long-term recovery group and we understand they are going to continue these weekly meetings for at least another month so we'll stay on top of that.
>> any more discussion on the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
okay, let's call up 8 a, then we'll go to 36 and apparently we had residents here on 28.
who is here on 28 and would like to address the court?
we would have to move to reconsider that when we call it up.
28 is the matter involving the green crossing preliminary plan.
who is here on that item?
>>
>> [inaudible].
>> they are not here?
>> oh, they are coming down?
if we can reach them by phone, tell them that that item will not be called up today.
>> okay.
>> but if they will contact precinct 4, Commissioner Gomez, and we'll see whether we need to put it on incomes net week.
on 28 -- who would residents need to talk to on 28?
miss bolin?
give them miss bolin's phone number.
she's the expert.
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