Mayor John Huffman Talks National Preparedness

What better way to raise awareness and discuss the importance of safety and preparedness in case of an emergency than National Preparedness month which takes place every September!

On this week’s Minute with the Mayor, Mayor John Huffman discussed the City’s future plans for disaster recovery and the brand-new disaster debris removal services program with Emergency Manager, Amanda Meneses.

The program was recently approved by City Council at the September 6, Council meeting.

“We approved a brand-new disaster debris removal services program which allows us to get contractors in place and ready to go large-scale debris removal should a disaster strike here in Southlake,” Mayor Huffman said.

The City received a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Texas Commission on Environmental Safety (TCEQ ) about a solid waste grant. Any funding received from the grant could be used for training, equipment, construction, and more.

“We had a professional contractor come in; they wrote us a disaster debris plan, and what that does for us is it allows us to remove disaster debris from communities, clear our streets for emergency response and that really facilitates public health and safety,” Emergency Manager, Amanda Meneses said.

This program will also allow the City’s primary contractor to respond quickly to a natural disaster within a 24-hour time frame.

“If some reason, they don’t get here within 24 hours, we have two secondary contractors that we can call to really facilitate that,” Meneses said.

The Disaster Debris Removal Services Program works hand in hand with the Public Works’ Rapid Response Team trailer, which is a team that consists of essential public works and parks personnel who can assist in responding to emergency matters at a moment’s notice.

For more information on Emergency Preparedness, please visit www.ProtectSouthlake.com.