Resident urges council to approve hurricane supplies; officials discuss portable restrooms and unified evacuation signage

Bill Page urged Punta Gorda City officials to approve hurricane preparedness purchases and issue a purchase order immediately to ensure supplies are in place for this storm season.

“I would challenge the council to get it approved this week and challenge the city to get a purchase order out this week so we can have them in place for this year's storms,” Bill Page said during the meeting's public-comment period.

City staff and council members discussed additional emergency options, including renting large restroom trailers for emergency management use, temporary use at Gilchrist Park and event rentals at Lashley Park with cost recovery through rentals. Staff said the trailers could be funded from the city’s emergency-management budget and used at events in the interim.

Officials also discussed county outreach about placing colored collars on stop signs to identify evacuation zones. Staff said Punta Gorda previously opted out of the county program because most of the city fell into the highest-risk zone, but some neighborhoods at the city’s edge — including Burkesboro Meadows and Seminole Lakes — might benefit from unified signage. Staff committed to checking whether there would be a cost to the city to opt in and returning that information to council.

No formal motion or vote on purchases, rentals or opting into county signage occurred during the pre-agenda meeting; staff indicated those items would return for consideration at the regular council meeting or a future agenda.

Article context: the public comment and staff discussion occurred during the pre-agenda meeting and were described as topics to be addressed at the upcoming city council meeting.