The Avalon City Council this week unanimously approved a local State of Emergency Proclamation for the so-called “Valentine Complex” as a result of last week’s wind and rain storms.
Council Member Richard Hernandez was absent this week.
Council Member Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy had the item pulled from the Consent Calendar so she could ask why the city would benefit from the declaration.
According to Public Works Director Bob Greenlaw, the declaration would help get future funds for the city. Also, he said Public Works staff was taking action to make repairs. (Earlier, he reported that Public Works was doing additional clean up work in the city following the recent storms.)
Greenlaw said that a state of emergency declaration helps out with some environmental permits.
He said maybe this one rain event would not make a state disaster, but the next two rains could lead to a state disaster.
The staff report on the emergency declaration, prepared by Senior Administrative Assistant Jordan Monroe, described some of the events that occurred during and after the storms on Wednesday, Feb. 13, and Thursday, Feb. 14.
“By 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, with subsiding rains and winds, the mud slide and flowing had stopped and the rocks, mud and debris were largely contained and most of the affected roads were open, at least to one lane traffic. Crews will continued to work clearing the roads until the project is completed,” the report said. Rock slides damaged the K-Rail fence panels on Pebbly Beach Road, the report said.
During the meeting, Greenlaw reminded the council that the fence panels cost $1,000 each.
City Manager/City Clerk Denise Radde said that Greenlaw was on the mainland last week. Maintenance Lead Worker Jeffrey Hernandez was on the island.
“Jeffrey stood tall for the community and stepped in where he needed to be,” Greenlaw said. “So I congratulate him for that.”
Hernandez said Public Works crews put in an average of about 14 to 15 hours a day during the storms and still were putting in that time. “And that’s still continuing right now,” Hernandez said.
“Most of the cleaning was done by heavy equipment,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez thanked all businesses that helped out by giving out food and providing shuttles.
Greenlaw said now you’ll see more detailed cleaning and then you’ll see the repairs.
Council members and the audience in the Council Chambers applauded city workers’ efforts.
According to Radde, county agencies were very receptive to Avalon’s needs during the storms.
During council comments, MacGugan-Cassidy said that during the storms, one of the boats came over and it was a miserable experience for the passengers. She said there were people sitting in golf carts and Sheriff’s personnel couldn’t get by them. She said there was a lot of “not really paying attention.”
A couple of hours later, she observed a group of people in a golf cart looking around who got stuck in a all the sludge, creating a problem for emergency responders. She suggested that during an emergency if members of the public don’t need to be there, let the emergency responders do their jobs.
“Additional areas around Avalon and Catalina are being monitored. The scope of damages and areas impacted may change, as at the time of writing this report, rains and winds are expected for the next few days, Saturday and Sunday, February 16-17, 2019,” the staff report said.
