Emergency management committee reviews town storm procedures

The Longboat Key emergency management team held the second meeting of a new committee-in-the-works, with a handful of guest speakers from the town. 

Longboat Key Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi also acts as the emergency management coordinator and is working on creating a committee of full-time residents to connect more with communities before and after major storms. 

The second meeting was held on Feb. 9 in town hall and included guest speakers from the town to inform residents about aspects of storm management, and answer any questions. 

First up was Director of Public Works Isaac Brownman, who outlined the town’s contracts for debris cleanup. 

He said the town has three contracts in place that can be activated after major storm events to clean up. Typically, those expenses are reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

He said recently there has been some pushback for reimbursing cleanup in private areas, like Bay Isles. 

Brownman said the contracts were not activated for Hurricane Idalia, and instead the town relied on Waste Management’s extra pickup days to clean up. 

But Hurricane Idalia was a hurricane with more flooding impacts than wind, and residents were left cleaning up homes from flood damage for some time after, according to Brownman. 

“It was a learning experience for us,” Brownman said.

Brownman’s Public Works colleague Mark Richardson followed to speak about the town’s sandbag operation. Richardson is the department’s streets, facilities, parks & recreation manager.

He spoke briefly about the fact that the town limits residents to 10 sandbags, and that there have been instances in the past when people from off island were coming to get sandbags. 

Richardson also said he’s heard of some residents using Hydrabarriers, which are filled with water and act in the same way as sandbags, but can be reused and stored when not in storm season. 

Longboat Key Police Department Deputy Chief Frank Rubino informed the committee about the town’s reentry procedure, which is a three-tier system. 

The first group allowed in are the police, Fire Rescue and Public Works crews to assess the situation. Property managers and business owners are second on the list, followed by residents as the last tier. 

Rubino said upon reentry, everyone will receive a color-coded decal for the inside of their windshield. For residents, it’s important to bring proof of residence like a driver’s license or water bill. For renters, something like a rental agreement would suffice. 

Lastly, the town’s public information officer and Assistant to the Town Manager Susan Phillips spoke about the importance of signing up for Alert Longboat Key, and the importance of evacuating if the order is issued. 

“When we tell you to evacuate, you really need to pay attention and be prepared for that,” she said. 

Dezzi said there’s one or two more informational meetings before the committee begins to be solidified. The next meeting is aimed for the first week of March, and will be a field trip to the Sarasota County Emergency Operations Center.

Interested full-time residents can contact the fire department at 941-316-1944.