2017 10 26 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN
October 26, 2017
The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday,
October 26, 2017, at 5:30 P.M., in the Hullum Conference Room of the Baytown City Hall, 2401
Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance:
Laura Alvarado Council Member
Robert Hoskins Council Member
Charles Johnson Council Member
David McCartney Council Member
Chris Presley Council Member
Terry Sain Council Member
Stephen DonCarlos Mayor
Rick Davis City Manager
Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney
Leticia Brysch City Clerk
Mayor DonCarlos convened the October 26, 2017, City Council Regular Work Session with a
quorum present at 5:30 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Council Member
Presley who arrived at 5:45 P.M.
1. DISCUSSIONS
a. Discuss the City's response and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey.
City Manager Davis stated that a few weeks ago he sent Council a matrix that attempted to
capture the feedback received in a staff meeting at the conclusion of the operations for Hurricane
Harvey. He noted that this matrix summarized the operations and mostly consistent on some of
the lessons learned. He stated that he participated in a panel at the ICMA Conference in San
Antonio, along with the City Managers for Alvin, Rockport and Victoria discussing the same
subject matter. He stated that a lot of the managers focused on the destruction that impacted their
communities, which for some them were significant and on the other hand, focused on what the
organization learned from this event. City Manager Davis noted that the things he came up with
were not necessarily things that failed, but were instead the most critical items that he felt other
communities needed to have in place when dealing with a disaster. He noted that there are three
critical things to have in place:
• A robust communication plan—internally and externally;
• A debris contractor in place; and
• A plan for a place to put people during the event(temporary shelters).
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October 26,2017
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City Manager Davis stated that another item he identified related to having the Finance
Department fully trained and prepared for FEMA process. He noted that the City's ability to
move through the FEMA process is helped in part by having staff that has already gone through
this type of process and of course by having well trained finance people. Assistant City Manager
Troller noted that FEMA stated that Baytown is so far ahead in the FEMA process that they
cannot move forward with our application because everyone else is still trying to catch up.
City Manager Davis stated that now that the City is moving into the recovery phase of this
disaster, he wanted to give the Council an opportunity to let staff know what went well and what
could be done better. He stated that the recovery period will take many years as some of the
damage to the City will take a while to fix. Additionally, he noted that the City is still trying to
complete the repair of the central wastewater treatment plant that was damaged by Hurricane Ike,
so we can expect the same time frame for some of the Hurricane Harvey issues.
Public Works Director, Frank Simoneaux stated that the debris contractor has been released. He
stated that the hurricane debris has been collected and the debris around town is mainly
contractor debris. He stated that construction debris is not reimbursed by FEMA; therefore, the
debris contractor has been released and the remaining debris collection would be taken over by
Public Works. Additionally, he stated that it was important to note that it's the responsibility of
the construction contractor to remove the renovation debris from the homes that they're
repairing.
Council Member Hoskins stated that the citizens were not aware of the rules under which the
City is functioning as it relates to the pick-up of hurricane related debris versus renovation
debris. He stated that in the beginning when the contractor ran out of town, and Public Works
(PW) took over the duties, PW did such a great job and set a high standard that citizens were
expecting to have their debris removed by the City to include every little piece of debris on their
front yard. He stated when the contractors came back into town; they focused on the big things
only and left a lot of debris around the yard. He stated that staff needed to have communicated
better with citizens about the rules and expectations for the debris contractors and for the staff
handling the debris pickup. Council Member Hoskins stated that citizens need to know what to
expect as it relates to debris clean-up and they also need to know that there's a point where they
as homeowners are responsible for completing the cleanup of their front lawns. City Manager
Davis noted that the City sent out a call out message to citizens letting them know about this very
item. Mr. Simoneaux stated that staff would also be sending out the debris information via the
water bills as an insert.
Council Member Hoskins asked how staff differentiated hurricane related debris to renovation
debris since most of the time they were all mixed together. Mr. Simoneaux stated that the debris
contractor has been released, so moving forward PW would be handling the debris collection
through a transition phase and that this information would be disseminated to the public through
various mediums. Council Member Hoskins asked what's going to happen to the all of the
construction debris that's already been placed out at the curb with the expectation that the City is
going to pick it up. Mr. Simoneaux stated that PW would internalize those duties, but noted to
the Council that there would be labor and other costs associated with this work, such as landfill
fees. Mr. Simoneaux further noted that the Green Center fees have been waived through the
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October 26,2017
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month of December to allow for the collection of this debris free of charge, so that's another
vehicle that citizens can use to get rid of their construction debris. Mr. Simoneaux again noted
that the City would be going to a transition period of educating people that their contractor is
responsible for removing their debris and for them not to place these items on the curb; PW will
still make rounds to remove some of the debris. Council Member McCartney noted that the City
can afford to pick-up the debris as it was $5 million over last year's budget.
Council Member Alvarado stated that she has heard it mentioned that people don't read the
information in the water bill and asked if staff could add a stamp on the envelope that let the
customer know that there was important information in the bill that they needed to review.
Council Member Hoskins again commended the PW crew for the excellent job that they did in
the debris removal. Mr. Davis noted that the difference in the quality of work from the
contractors to the PW crews is not the equipment,but the sense of ownership and commitment of
our staff.
Council Member Hoskins requested for future references that the City send out rules of
engagement early, so citizens are aware of what the rules and expectations are related to trash
and debris.
Council Member Alvarado suggested that staff have a representative at the CDBG Housing Fair
to talk to people about storm preparedness. Council Member Sain recommended the same type
of education at the next Hurricane Workshop.
Deputy City Manager Bottoms noted that the contractors are well aware that it's their
responsibility to remove the construction debris, but will ignore that duty if they can save money
by putting it out on the curb and letting the City take care of it for them.
Mayor DonCarlos requested that in the information sent out to the public in the water bill notice
that residents are aware that their contractor is responsible for removing their construction debris.
He stated that he had a couple of items that became apparent to him through this storm as he was
able to have a different perspective of having gone through Hurricane Ike and being able to
compare the two incidents. He stated that one (1) item he wants to see going forward is ensuring
that the City has a shelter system in place. He stated that what has been discussed is training and
a better organized system of churches that would be suitable for short term shelter situations.
Council Member McCartney recommended that the City have agreements in place with local
churches for temporary shelters. In response to Council Member McCartney's recommendation,
Mayor DonCarlos stated that it was already in the work and noted that Lee College is agreeable
to being a shelter for future disasters. Mayor DonCarlos stated that staff needs to have a list of
locations that are agreeable to serving as temporary shelters to include contacts to ensure for
quick and efficient communication should we need them. Mayor DonCarlos noted that it's
equally as important that the people at these locations have the right training to set up and
manage these shelters. Council Member Sain also noted that it was important to have a liaison
between the churches and organizations that provide support and assistance during disasters for
clothing,bedding, etc.
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October 26,2017
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Mayor DonCarlos stated that we need a distribution center, in order to receive and disperse
donations in an organized and more efficient manner to those in need. He noted that for
Hurricane Harvey, the system that with of funneling everything through the United Way was
helpful, but he noted that in the future, the City would be best served if there's a system in place
to deal with these situations.
Mayor DonCarlos stated that the City needs to invest in a warehouse, in order to put disaster
supplies, such as cots, blankets and MREs. He noted that Lee Drive is not sufficient to meet the
City's storage needs and it didn't work well for the City before, during, and after Harvey. He
stated that he would like to see a warehouse close to the EOC area, maybe something can be
done with the land that was purchased next to the Police Department. He noted that whatever is
constructed needs to be done well in order to keep the space clean and dry, and noted that this
warehouse could also serve as a central distribution center for the shelters.
Council Member McCartney stated that if the City is going to invest in real estate and possibly
looking at consolidating some buildings, is there anything there that could serve as a warehouse.
City Manager Davis stated that he didn't think there was a location that could be refurbished to
meet the City's storage needs, but instead needed something new built to the specifications and
needs. Mayor DonCarlos stated that this new location could also be a good place to store the new
high water vehicles under a cover and not left out exposed to the elements. City Manager Davis
stated that currently, staff didn't know how much area would be needed for storage, but noted
that staff would sit down and start looking at this item more closely. City Manager Davis also
stated that Chief Blake, prior to his leaving, estimated an expansion to the EOC with more rooms
and showers at about$2 million.
Mayor DonCarlos stated that he would like a space that could house all of the law enforcement
and FEMA teams that come into town to help during a disaster. He noted that during Harvey we
had a lot of outside help come into town and there was no place provided for them. He also noted
that it would also be a good idea to have a contract in place to bring in some pre-fab housing for
dorms should they be needed.
Council Member Hoskins noted that it was important that the new high water vehicles(HWV)be
stored well and have a robust maintenance program. Interim Fire Chief Dana Dalbey note that in
the past these vehicles were stored and run a bit, but they did not have a big maintenance
program, but that would be different with the new HWV. He noted that these HWV are military
grade and are coming from military bases across Texas, specifically San Antonio and Fort
Worth, so they are good vehicles that the City would want to take care of with the proper storage
and maintenance.
Mayor DonCarlos stated that staff did a much better job this time around in communicating with
the public; of course it helped that the City had electricity. He stated that getting information out
through the municipal channel, through the blackboard connect calls, and social media was very
helpful. Mayor DonCarlos stated that he received a lot of positive feedback from the public as it
related to social media and call outreach. He stated that he would like to see staff have a once a
year campaign to have people sign up for the City's emergency communication calls, which is
one of the most important aspects of a disaster.
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Mayor DonCarlos stated that in his opinion everything went as well as could be expected as this
storm was completely different from Hurricane Ike. He stated that the damage was much worse,
but also limited to certain areas of town. He celebrated the amazing ability of Baytown citizens
to come together and respond at a moment's notice to help each other. He stated that the
churches and faith based organizations were tireless in their efforts to support and comfort
others. He noted that City employees, first responders, Public Works, Parks and Finance staff all
came together and did an amazing job despite what was happening in their personal lives.
Mayor DonCarlos further stated that staff needs to find a more organized way of dealing with
issues identified by Council Members that are on the ground during an event and noted that there
was not one loss of life or reports of looting.
Council Member Alvarado stated that in terms of preparation, staff should look at the ditches and
make sure that the debris is removed and cleaned out to help with flooding issues. She stated that
maybe this practice could be added to the City's preparedness and has a way to allow citizens to
call in dirty ditches so staff could respond. She noted that in her district some of the ditches were
completely blocked which could have helped with some of the flooding that happened during the
event. Assistant Director of Public Works, Kevin Harvill noted that this practice is already in
place and Public Works did clean out the ditches in the areas that were considered problem areas
as it relates to flooding. Council Member Alvarado noted with regards to enhancing the
communication plan, particularly with older citizens who don't use social media, there should be
an alternate way to get them information and that staff should look at forms to communicate
between the temporary shelters in order to help people find or connect with their family
members.
Council Member McCartney stated that staff should look into and invest in elevating some of the
City's bridges, in order to keep them from going under water and trapping people in certain
geographic areas.
Council Member Alvarado also asked staff to look at allotting adequate drainage capacity to
roadways and areas when the City start expanding the lanes and covering ditches along Garth
Road. City Manager Davis stated that a lot of the expense related to the Garth Road expansion
project is related to that factor and ensuring that the detention capacity is retained; in-line
detention is what is being done along Garth Road and this is very expensive.
Council Member Sain stated that before a storm event; PW could go out and pick up debris and
brush around town so that the ditches were not clogged up during a large rain event.
Council Member Presley asked for staff to look at some of the problem areas where there were
choke points or problems with drainage, such as Market Street to see what could be done to help
with these types of problems.
Council Member Sain noted that some areas in his district flooded because water filled up behind
silt fences and flooded those homes. Mayor DonCarlos asked if staff needed to find a way to
communicate with contractors to leave some gaps in their silt fences to allow some water to
move through. Assistant City Manager Troller stated that the silt fences did what they were
supposed to do, which was stop the water and noted that a part of the discussion at hand needs to
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October 26,2017
Page 6 of 6
not go to the extreme as future rain events are probably not going to include 51 inches of rain in
a very short period of time.
Council Member McCartney stated that he would like to see a list of the streets that were
impassable or under water in the last rain event because identifying those streets would help plan
for future rain events.
Council Member Johnson requested that staff look into having a separate shelter for bed ridden
individuals, in order to have the proper help and setup to deal with their special needs and their
caregivers.
Council Member Presley asked if staff has looked at regional detention in the older parts of
town. Mayor DonCarlos stated that regional detention is something that everyone wants, but the
money part becomes a problem, in order to get the surrounding areas to get the water to the
detention ponds.
Council Member Hoskins stated that recently he had to update his FEMA (NIMS) training and
one thing that came out of this process was his desire to take some time and critique the City's
response to this disaster. He stated that there were some issues that he identified; such as letting
the reigns loose too soon and pushing down the responsibility of items to volunteer groups when
the City should have maintained control of those items. He stated that he didn't want a one hour
setting and five minutes before a meeting, but instead wants an in-depth critique at a future date.
Council Member Sain stated that he would like a refresher of FEMA training and what their roles
as Council Members were during these types of events.
b. Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
for October 26,2017,which is attached below.
This agenda item was not taken.
2. ADJOURN
With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the October 26,
2017, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:20 P.M.
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