HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 09/07/2005 - Emergency1 HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the
special Meeting of the Corpus Christi City Council of September 7, 2005, which were approved by
the t'ity Council on September 13. 2005
WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, on this the 13th day of September, 2005.
d'
Armando Chapa
City Secretary
EA1.
MINUTES
CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI. TEXAS
Special Council Meeting
September 7, 2005 - 3:00 p.m.
PRESENT
Mayor Henry Garrett
Council Members:
Jerry Garcia
Rex Kinnison
Bill Kelly
John E. Marez
Jesse Noyola
Mark Scott
ABSENT
Mayor Pro Tem Melody Cooper
Brent Chesney
City Staff:
City Manager George K. Noe
City Attorney Mary Kay Fischer
City Secretary Armando Chapa
Mayor Garrett called the special meeting to order in the Council Chambers of City Hall.
City Manager Noe explained last Friday morning, the city was asked by the State of Texas
to provide shelters for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Staff asked the Mayor to declare a State of
Disaster to enable the city to operate the shelter system beginning on Saturday, when the first flight
of evacuees arrived. Mr. Noe said the declaration was effective for seven days unless confirmed by
the City Council, which was the reason for today's meeting. He asked the Council to confirm the
declaration, along with a number of other actions taken to manage the curfew and shelters. He noted
that this declaration would last until the Council dissolved it.
Mr. Noe reported the city subsequently received 12 plane loads of evacuees so far, totaling
approximately 1430 people. He said the area currently had 853 evacuees in various private and
public shelters throughout the region. including the Cities of Portland and Kingsville.
Mayor Garrett stated this action would give the city the flexibility to deal with the immediate
requests regarding the management of the shelters. He said he was impressed with the way the
community had responded to the situation. He thanked the Council and City Manager Noe as well
for their leadership. He emphasized the city's shelter system was well-planned and working well.
Mr. Noe thanked the State of Texas for their assistance, saying they would work with the
federal government to reimburse the city's costs for sheltering evacuees. He also reported Governor
Perry would visit the city tomorrow to observe the operation and visit the shelters, and he would
provide more details on the visit as they became available. Finally, Mr. Noe thanked the community
tier their generous response to the crisis, saying the city had been so inundated with volunteers and
donations that all volunteer and donation recruitment efforts had been suspended. Mayor Garrett
added many evacuees had commented on how well they had been treated here, and that spoke well
tor the community.
Mr. Scott asked what would happen to any donated items that were not used. Mr. Noe
Minutes - Special Council Meeting
September 7, 2005 - Page 2
replied the evacuees would absorb more of the donated items once they established permanent
residences. Any unused items would be sent to evacuees in other areas, noting there were 200,000
evacuees in Texas alone.
Individual Council members thanked the community, city staff, and the State for their efforts
in responding to this crisis.
Mr. Marez asked for more information on the curfew order. First Assistant City Attorney
Jav Reining replied the curfew applied to all evacuees in the geographic area, not just juveniles. City
Manager Noe added there had been no significant issues with curfew at this time, but the city wanted
the authority to manage the curfew in case of a problem.
Mayor Garrett pointed out there was still much to be done. He emphasized that the city had
not torgotten its responsibility to its citizens, and would be ready to respond to any hurricane that
may develop in the future. There were no comments from the public. City Secretary Chapa polled
the ( ouncil for their votes as follows:
ORDINANCE NO. 026436
Ordinance extending the local State of Disaster declared by the Mayor on September 2, 2005;
providing for penalties; providing for severance; providing for publication; and declaring an
emergency .
An emergency was declared, and the foregoing ordinance was passed and approved with the
following vote: Garrett, Garcia, Kelly, Kinnison, Marez, Noyola, and Scott, voting "Aye";
Chesney and Cooper were absent.
There being no further business to come before the Council, Mayor Garrett adjourned the
special Council meeting at 3:15 p.m. on September 7, 2005.
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