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<br />September 10, 2018 <br /> <br />At a Called Meeting of the City Council on Monday, September 10, 2018, there <br />were present: <br /> <br />Mayor John L. Rowe, Jr., Vice Mayor Elizabeth M. Psimas, William E. Moody, Jr., Ray <br />A. Smith, Sr., *Dr. Mark M. Whitaker, Nathan J. Clark, Lisa L. Lucas-Burke, City <br />Manager Dr. L. Pettis Patton, City Attorney Solomon H. Ashby, Jr. <br /> <br />18 - 351 - The Mayor called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance: <br /> <br /> "Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the City Council <br />Chambers, 801 Crawford Street, 6:00 p.m., Monday, September 10, 2018 for the <br />purpose of a Public Work Session. <br /> <br /> In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting. <br /> <br />By order of the Mayor." <br /> <br />18 - 352 - The following items were discussed in Public Work Session: <br /> <br />1. Emergency Management Operations - Chief Jim Hoffler, Portsmouth Fire <br />Department <br /> <br />2. Hurricane Florence Strategic Planning - Captain Justin Arnold, Portsmouth Fire <br />Department and Pamela Little-Hill, Director of Social Services <br />- School Superintendent Dr. Bracy and Lawrence Whiting, Director of Auxiliary <br />Services, provided an update on school availability, food services and <br />transportation. School closures will be announced by September 11, 2018. <br /> <br />3. Public Works/Street & Highways Preparation - Youssef Khalil, Director of Public <br />Works <br />- Mayor Rowe inquired about sand bags for citizens and business owners. City <br />Manager Patton will look into the availability of the empty bags. <br />- Mayor Rowe opened the floor to citizens. Mark Gelduldig-Yatrofsky inquired <br />about the penalties for failure to evacuate in a mandatory zone and the time <br />frame for returning. Captain Arnold informed citizens that while there are no legal <br />penalties, emergency services will be limited and eventually not be available to <br />them if they choose not to evacuate and returning to your home will begin as <br />soon as it is safe. <br /> <br />4. Public Utilities & Waste Management Update - Erin Trimyer, Director Public Utilities <br /> <br />5. Pet Sheltering and Service Animals - Solomon Ashby, City Attorney <br /> <br />6. Communications - LaVoris Pace, Deputy City Manager <br />- Hurricane Help Desk line is 757-407-9143 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. <br />- Mayor Rowe opened the floor to citizens. Cecilia Kelly inquired about reporting <br />power outages and down lines. Councilman Smith informed citizens to report all <br />outages directly to Dominion Power. <br /> <br /> Mayor Rowe provided an update on the conference call with the Governor and <br /> <br />expressed the seriousness of this storm. <br /> <br /> Vice Mayor Psimas inquired about the impact should the hurricane take the western <br /> <br />track. Captain Arnold informed Council that we should still expect tropical storm <br />strength winds and downed trees. <br /> <br /> Motion by Ms. Psimas, and seconded by Mr. Moody, to cancel and postpone <br />Tuesday, September 11, 2018 work session and council meeting to the next scheduled <br />meeting on Tuesday, September 25, 2018. <br /> <br />The motion was adopted by the following vote: <br /> <br />Ayes: Clark, Lucas-Burke, Moody, Psimas, Whitaker, Rowe <br />Nays: Smith <br /> <br />On motion, meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. <br /> <br />