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Latest from mayor on power, debris
Dear Bellaire Residents:
I have updated information as follows:
Power Restoration-
At our demand, the City Manager and I had a meeting at City Hall Friday afternoon with Centerpoint's Senior VP for Electrical Services, the VP for Corporate Communications, the Division VP for Distribution Operations, and the managers from the Bellaire service center. (These are the individuals that are directing not only the Bellaire power restoration, but the entire Centerpoint power restoration effort.) Additionally, at our request, State Representative Ellen Cohen sent two legislative aides to this meeting. (State Rep. Cohen was attending a conference as a speaker and could not attend this meeting.)
The following commitments were made by Centerpoint:
1. Provide daily status and progress reports on remaining power outages in Bellaire.
2. Finish the entire "sweep" of Bellaire's main and lateral circuits to get the network in Bellaire re-energized by today (Sunday). (They are on schedule as of 3 p.m.)
3. Communicate with the City of Bellaire by Monday morning which Bellaire addresses/area still have "secondary" problems (ie, blown transformers, downed individual service lines, etc.) that weren't resolved with the initial sweep.
4. Restore Bellaire residents with these secondary problems in a matter of days (not weeks).
As of yesterday (Saturday), Centerpoint had over 400 skilled linemen working on the circuits that supply Bellaire. I spoke to the Senior VP for Electrical Services again this afternoon and he expects all secondary problems will be resolved no later than the close of business this Wednesday.
For those of you with secondary problems that have prevented your home from having power restored by the end of today:
1. Contact Centerpoint at 713-207-2222 asap to notify them that you still do not have power, so that a work order can be prepared for your home/business.
2. Additionally, call the City at 713-662-8222 or email me at: csiegel@ci.bellaire.tx.us
If you have notified the City over the last week about not having power and it was restored over the weekend, please email us or give us a call, so that we can remove your address from our oversight list.
Storm Debris Pickup-
The storm debris pickup has increased. As of today, we have picked up over 50% of the 1st pass through debris. This is the pickup of the tree limbs and leaves. The big tree trunks and construction material will be picked up on the 2nd pass through, when the 1st pass through is completed as of close of business this Wednesday (October 1st).
As I stated in the last update, if our contractor does not meet the deadline this Wednesday for the 1st pass through, we will be seek another options to get the schedule back on track. (To get the update on the storm debris pickup, check the City webpage at: www.ci.bellaire.tx.us or our local newspapers and magazine.)
In conclusion, I am finally hopeful that we will all have our power restored in the next few days. It has been an extremely frustrating two weeks to say the least. Personally, I finally had it Thursday evening. I believe that most of my friends who say that I am a reasonable person who normally does not lose her temper. But enough was enough! It was time to reclaim our lives and quit living like a third-world country.
The City Manager and I are going to continue to "dog" Centerpoint over the next few days until we have 100% power restoration in Bellaire and can all go back to our "normal" lives. Once the recovery effort is complete, the City will be looking at ways to improve not only our future recovery efforts, if the City ever has the misfortune to have another hurricane like Ike, but how we expect Centerpoint to improve theirs. It is critical to learn from this experience and move on so that we are all better prepared for the next hurricane - both personally and at Centerpoint's and the City's level.
Thanks for your support and patience.
Cindy Siegel, Mayor
City of Bellaire
I have updated information as follows:
Power Restoration-
At our demand, the City Manager and I had a meeting at City Hall Friday afternoon with Centerpoint's Senior VP for Electrical Services, the VP for Corporate Communications, the Division VP for Distribution Operations, and the managers from the Bellaire service center. (These are the individuals that are directing not only the Bellaire power restoration, but the entire Centerpoint power restoration effort.) Additionally, at our request, State Representative Ellen Cohen sent two legislative aides to this meeting. (State Rep. Cohen was attending a conference as a speaker and could not attend this meeting.)
The following commitments were made by Centerpoint:
1. Provide daily status and progress reports on remaining power outages in Bellaire.
2. Finish the entire "sweep" of Bellaire's main and lateral circuits to get the network in Bellaire re-energized by today (Sunday). (They are on schedule as of 3 p.m.)
3. Communicate with the City of Bellaire by Monday morning which Bellaire addresses/area still have "secondary" problems (ie, blown transformers, downed individual service lines, etc.) that weren't resolved with the initial sweep.
4. Restore Bellaire residents with these secondary problems in a matter of days (not weeks).
As of yesterday (Saturday), Centerpoint had over 400 skilled linemen working on the circuits that supply Bellaire. I spoke to the Senior VP for Electrical Services again this afternoon and he expects all secondary problems will be resolved no later than the close of business this Wednesday.
For those of you with secondary problems that have prevented your home from having power restored by the end of today:
1. Contact Centerpoint at 713-207-2222 asap to notify them that you still do not have power, so that a work order can be prepared for your home/business.
2. Additionally, call the City at 713-662-8222 or email me at: csiegel@ci.bellaire.tx.us
If you have notified the City over the last week about not having power and it was restored over the weekend, please email us or give us a call, so that we can remove your address from our oversight list.
Storm Debris Pickup-
The storm debris pickup has increased. As of today, we have picked up over 50% of the 1st pass through debris. This is the pickup of the tree limbs and leaves. The big tree trunks and construction material will be picked up on the 2nd pass through, when the 1st pass through is completed as of close of business this Wednesday (October 1st).
As I stated in the last update, if our contractor does not meet the deadline this Wednesday for the 1st pass through, we will be seek another options to get the schedule back on track. (To get the update on the storm debris pickup, check the City webpage at: www.ci.bellaire.tx.us or our local newspapers and magazine.)
In conclusion, I am finally hopeful that we will all have our power restored in the next few days. It has been an extremely frustrating two weeks to say the least. Personally, I finally had it Thursday evening. I believe that most of my friends who say that I am a reasonable person who normally does not lose her temper. But enough was enough! It was time to reclaim our lives and quit living like a third-world country.
The City Manager and I are going to continue to "dog" Centerpoint over the next few days until we have 100% power restoration in Bellaire and can all go back to our "normal" lives. Once the recovery effort is complete, the City will be looking at ways to improve not only our future recovery efforts, if the City ever has the misfortune to have another hurricane like Ike, but how we expect Centerpoint to improve theirs. It is critical to learn from this experience and move on so that we are all better prepared for the next hurricane - both personally and at Centerpoint's and the City's level.
Thanks for your support and patience.
Cindy Siegel, Mayor
City of Bellaire
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