Gulf Coast E-news

Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas pointed the finger of blame at Texas Governor Rick Perry for long lines of traffic during the evacuation of Galveston Island during the threat of Hurricane Rita. Listen Podcast

"Galveston has received a number of comments in support of our evacuation process," Thomas said, admitting that the city's preparation was not perfect. "But when Galveston citizens left the island of Galveston, we had trouble."

Thomas said that the State of Texas had assured her and others "time and time and time again" that Galveston residents would be welcomed at shelters in Huntsville after a three to four hour trip.

"That is not what happened," Thomas said. "As the day progressed on Wednesday things began to happen in the Houston area that caused our good citizens to stay on buses for 12 hours, 16 hours, two days."

"I will not accept the responsibility or the blame for what happened when our citizens hit the Houston area," Thomas said. "I would urge those of you who had such a miserable trip to let the governor of the State of Texas and our representatives know how you feel about what happened to you. I will not shoulder that responsibility."

Thomas called on the governor to immediately make changes in the state's evacuation plans, including establishment of a high occupancy vehicle lane.

"Instead of taking you out of harm's way you went into harm's way," Thomas said. "Lives were threatened and people died on that trip; and dogs died and cats died."

State Representative Craig Eiland, who attended the meeting, said that he would deliver the mayor's message to the governor.

Thomas was very pleased with the public officials in Fairfield, Texas, where the evacuees were welcomed.

City Manager Steve LeBlanc said that he is working with the city officials in Fairfield to approve an interlocal agreement to allow Galveston to establish shelter for 3,000 residents, if another evacuation is called; so that the city will not have to depend on the state's plan.

The mayor's emotional speech preceded a special meeting of city council that was called to deal with several items that needed action before the end of the 2005 fiscal year at midnight tonight.

The city council approved new two-year contracts with Municipal Court Judge John Campbell and Alternate Municipal Judge Ted Allmond.

The city council approved a new $50,000 economic development contract with the Galveston Economic Development Partnership; and $15,000 for the GIS program that the GEDP is developing.

Three people, Steve Greenberg, Mike Rogers and Herbert Turner, appeared before the city council to praise the mayor for her leadership during Rita.

Texas Governor Rick Perry today announced the appointment of 11 individuals to the Task Force on Evacuation Transportation and Logistics, a group established earlier this week by the governor, Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels to improve evacuation procedures for major metropolitan areas in Texas.

“Hurricane Rita highlighted the tremendous challenges associated with evacuating a major American city, as well as strengths and weaknesses in state, local and private evacuation plans,” Perry said. “While we achieved the ultimate goal of moving millions of people to safety in a matter of hours, we can and we must do better the next time we are faced with an emergency.”

Perry said the task force brings together "some of the best and brightest minds" in transportation, energy, academia and government who will help all levels of government learn from the experiences of Rita and establish better evacuation plans for future emergencies.”

Perry said the task force anticipates holding its first meeting in Houston in early October, with additional meetings to follow in other cities in the near future. The Task Force will seek the input of experts in fields including transportation, fuel delivery and traffic management, and will recommend improvements to state and local governments and the private sector.

Members of the task force include: Jack Little of Houston, former president and CEO of Shell Oil Company, who will chair the committee; Gordon Bethune of Houston, former chair and CEO of Continental Airlines; Theron Bowman, Ph.D., chief of police for City of Arlington; Bill King, former Mayor of Kemah; Bill Klesse of San Antonio, executive vice president and COO of Valero Energy; Dr. Carol Lewis of Houston, associate professor in transportation studies and director of the Center for Transportation Training and Research at Texas Southern University; Erle Nye of Dallas, former chair and CEO of TXU Corp, member of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents; Jerry Patterson of Austin, Texas Land Commissioner; David Saperstein of Houston, CEO of Five S Capital, former chair and CEO of Metro Networks Inc. and volunteer chair of the Office of Mobility for the City of Houston; Karen Sexton of Galveston, vice president and CEO for Hospitals and Clinics at the University of Texas Medical Branch; and Mike Trevino of Houston, general manager of public and governmental affairs for Marathon Oil.

Casey Haney, communications director for State Senator Kyle Janek, reports that Centerpoint Energy is sending 1,500 employees to the Bolivar Peninsula this weekend; and that power may be restored sooner than expected.

"On the latest conference call, the best estimate is that the Peninsula should be getting some power by Sunday night, and should be completely back in service sometime next week," Casey said.

"We worked with the governor's office to clear the mountains of red tape and get clearance from the US Department of Energy, ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc.) and the Public Utilities Commission to hook the Peninsula up to ERCOT instead of waiting until Entergy can hook y'all up to their grid," said Casey Haney, communications director for State Senator Kyle Janek. "This should speed things up significantly."

Several private companies are contributing to the recovery effort on the peninsula.

BP has provided a truck that will be stationed at the Port Bolivar Fire Station to prepare and serve food to 2,500 people on Sunday.

Houston City Council on Wednesday voted to authorize Mayor Bill White to extend or continue the proclamation of a Local State of Disaster for the City of Houston beyond its original seven day period.

The city council voted to extend an Injury on Duty leave for police officer Milton J. Demaret.

Several items were tagged, or delayed for one week, by individual members of the city council.

A motion to extend the expiration date of a contract with Lone Star Uniforms, Inc. from October 13, 2005 to March 31, 2006, and to increase spending authority by $820,784.80 from $2,051,962.00 to $2,872,746.80, for Soft Body Armor for the Houston Police Department, was tagged by Addie Wiseman.

A proposed ordinance to add 200 Senior Police Officer positions and one Identification Officer position; and to delete 250 Police Officer positions, one Deputy Administrator-Identification Division position, one Captain position and one Assistant Chief Toxicologist position; was tagged by Wiseman, Ada Edwards, Carol Mims Galloway, Adrian Garcia, Carol Alvarado, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, M.J. Kahn, Michael Berry, Gordon Quan and Mark Ellis.

An ordinance authorizing the creation of contractual obligations for goods or services included on Hurricane Katrina-related project worksheets submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with expenditures to be made only from FEMA receipts, was tagged by Wiseman.

One ordinance related to the issuance, sale, delivery and security of general obligation commercial paper notes was removed from the agenda and was not considered; a similar ordinance was tagged by Ellis.

An ordinance related to the issuance and sale of public improvement refunding bonds was tagged by Ellis.

An ordinance consenting to the addition of 29.548 acres of land to Harris County Municipal Utility District 82 was tagged by Galloway.

A request for a permit by Valero Logistics Operations, L.P. "to own, acquire, construct, operate, maintain, improve, repair, and replace pipelines in certain portions of specified public street rights-of-way" was tagged by Edwards.

A proposed amendment to the city's contract with Smart City Networks, L.P. for telecommunication services at the George R. Brown Convention Center was tagged by Berry.

An ordinance to increase the maximum contract amount to the city's contract with Arch Wireless Operating Company, Inc. for pager rental services for various departments was tagged by Wiseman.

An ordinance consenting to the addition of 65.4274 acres of land to the Pine Village Public Utility District was postponed for two weeks on a motion by Berry.

Proposed amendments to the 2004 Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan was delayed for one week on a motion by Quan.

All other agenda items were approved.

The Port of Houston Authority Commission on Thursday awarded an estimated $579,214 contract to Briggs Equipment Trust, doing business as Briggs Equipment, for two empty
container handling machines for the Bayport Container Terminal.

The commission also awarded two contracts for the
purchase of 23 vehicles for Bayport. Philpott Motor Company received a $198,596 contract for 16 vehicles, and Classic Chevrolet Beaumont received a $91,417 contract for seven vehicles.

The commission awarded a $300,000 professional services contract to Professional Service Industries, Inc. for materials testing verification services for Bayport.

The commission also awarded an estimated $14.87 million contract to McCarthy Building Companies for the first phase of
Port Road at Bayport.

The commission amended JWD Group's professional service contract by an estimated $50,000. JWD is expected to
accommodate the PHA's requested changes in the design of the electrical conduit, grounding and telecommunication infrastructure for the Phase 1 marine terminal gate in order to enhance security and improve operations.

The commission executed a $95,362 change order on Zachry Construction Corporation's contract for Bayport's Phase 1A
container yard. Zachry is expected to provide additional fill material at the high mast light pole bases and electrical conduit located outside of the container yard.

The commission evaluated and ranked competitive sealed proposals and authorized PHA to negotiate a potential
construction contract ranging from $20 million to $22 million for the first phase of the Bayport Cruise Terminal building. Morganti Texas, Inc. received the commission's top ranking followed by Stewart-Matl, Ltd.

The commissioners evaluated and ranked CSPs and
authorized PHA to negotiate a potential construction contract ranging from $10 million to $11.2 million for site and utilities at the first phase of the Bayport Cruise Terminal complex. Zachry Construction Corporation received the commission's top ranking followed by McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

The commission evaluated and ranked CSPs and authorized the PHA to negotiate a potential construction contract ranging from $25 million to $27.5 million for wharf and dredging at the
first phase of Bayport's cruise terminal. Orion Construction, LP
received the commission's top ranking followed by McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

The commission evaluated and ranked CSPs and authorized the PHA to negotiate a potential construction contract for
the first phase of the Bayport marine terminal gate at an estimated cost of $23 million to $25 million. McCarthy received the commission's top ranking followed by Zachry.

The commission authorized the PHA to advertise and
receive CSPs for the potential purchase of three 10,000-pound capacity forklift machines for Bayport at an estimated cost of $110,000.

The commission also authorized the PHA to advertise
and receive CSPs for the potential purchase of a 135-foot telescopic boom manlift for Bayport at an estimated cost of $200,000.

The commission also authorized the PHA to advertise
and receive qualifications for professional services to provide air
quality consulting and particulate sampler monitoring and maintenance at Bayport at a cost ranging between $180,000 and $220,000.

The commission authorized the PHA to negotiate an
estimated $450,000 to $600,000 contract with L.A. King Company for installation of a gate control system at Bayport.

The commission evaluated and ranked qualifications for the negotiation of a potential contract for materials testing at
Bayport's cruise terminal. Terracon Consultant, Inc. received the commission’s top ranking followed by Alliance Laboratories, Inc.

The commission authorized the PHA to advertise and
receive proposals for unarmed, uniformed security gate officer services at PHA facilities.

The commission evaluated and ranked CSPs and authorized the PHA to negotiate a potential construction contract in the estimated range of $1.2 million to $1.5 million for the repair of
slope failure at Manchester Terminal. Orion received the commission's top ranking followed by MB Western.

The commission amended the PHA's contract with Scientech Engineers in an estimated amount not to exceed $25,393 for
the replacement of a transit shed at the Turning Basin Terminal. Scientech is expected to revise the drawings and specifications to provide for the demolition of the existing shed, modify the support for the existing concrete canopy over the rail tracks, and provide drainage for the open wharf.

Lamar University in Beaumont is drying out and the cleanup is continuing today. News releases are posted on the Lamar Page.

"We are making tremendous progress,” said Gerald McCaig, head of Lamar University’s physical plant. "The goal is to get the university back into a pre-Hurricane Rita condition so that classes can resume in time to salvage the fall semester."

McCaig said that just like the tens of thousands of residents whose homes and businesses were affected by Hurricane Rita, the many members of Lamar’s emergency response team are eager to get back to a normal routine.

"For now, everything is anything but routine," McCaig said. "With only power provided by a limited number of diesel generators – and a very real effort underway to locate more as soon as possible – work is still moving ahead continuously."

With an estimate of four to five days yet to get things dried out from the wind-driven rains, McCaig emphasized that the campus did not experience general flooding.

“The clean up isn’t anything like that facing those in western Louisiana or New Orleans,” he said.

Lamar University’s athletics program will continue with games to be played on the road until the point that its own campus facilities can be used again.

“We plan to follow through on all our obligations,” said Billy Tubbs, athletics director and head men’s basketball coach in a telephone interview from Oklahoma City with Brian Sattler.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will begin practices at Angelina College in Lufkin next week. Lamar’s men’s and women’s golf teams will resume competition with the men playing next in Waco and the women’s team playing at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.

Lamar’s volleyball team began practice today UT-San Antonio where the members are housed; and will play the rest of its schedule on the road until LU’s facilities are again available. Lamar’s cross country team is housed at Blinn College in Brehnam.

Lamar's baseball team will be staying in Houston and its coach Jim Gilligan is working to make arrangements for practices for its fall program at area universities.

Cardinal Athletics can be followed on the Internet at www.lamarcardinals.com.

The Houston Police Department today began a program to assist the Port Arthur Police Department. Ten police officers, two sergeants and one lieutenant left for Port Arthur at 4 p.m. from the Houston Police Department building at 61 Riesner.

"The program may continue for several weeks, and is dependent upon the police needs of the Port Arthur community," said a news release. "A similar contingent of Houston Police officers will depart from the Central police complex at 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day to respond to calls for service and patrol the city of Port Arthur in 12-hour shifts alongside officers from that community."

The news release says that Port Arthur residents will be permitted to return on Saturday. However, parts of the city are still without gas, power, or water.

Scheduled Meetings
Meetings will be held in the regular meeting place of the city council or other governmental body, unless otherwise specified.

Today, September 30
8:00 Once Upon A Mattress, Clear Creek Country Theatre, 18091 Upper Bay Road, Nassau Bay

Saturday, October 1
5:00 Galveston Historical Foundation Bavarian Musikfest, Sealy Pavilion
8:00 Once Upon A Mattress, Clear Creek Country Theatre, 18091 Upper Bay Road, Nassau Bay

Sunday, October 2
2:30 Once Upon A Mattress, Clear Creek Country Theatre, 18091 Upper Bay Road, Nassau Bay

Monday, October 3
9:00 Galveston County Commissioners Court, Holbrook Building
9:00 Galveston Livable Communities Steering Committee, City Hall Room 205
4:30 Friendswood City Council Worksession
5:00 Galveston County Emergency Communications District Board of Managers, 1353 FM 646 West, Suite 101
6:30 League City City Council and Clear Creek Independent School District Joint Workshop on Cooperative Efforts During Hurricane Rita
7:00 Friendswood City Council
7:00 Dickinson Independent School District Board of Trustees
7:30 El Lago City Council

Gulf Coast E-news, published by Guidry News Service, provides comprehensive coverage of posted public meetings in Galveston, Harris and Jefferson Counties as well as regional news impacting the Upper Texas Gulf Coast.

Jim and Lynda Guidry are publishers of Gulf Coast E-news and The Online News Station.

Carl Guidry covers events in Jefferson County. Anita Donatto covers the education beat in Galveston. Patty Mayeux is editor of Gulf Coast E-news.

Robert John Mihovil is a special photographic correspondent for Guidry News Service

We are seeking to hire reporters & marketing agents to expand our coverage in Jefferson & Harris Counties.

Guidry News Service offices at 1818 Church Street, Suite 4, Galveston, TX. 77550 / P.O. Box 2130, Galveston, TX 77553
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This electronic newsletter replaced, and expanded on, the mission of the Galveston Fax, established by Jim and Lynda Guidry on Galveston Island in July 1996; and Clear Lake Area E-news, begun on January 2, 2002.


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