City of Coco council extends emergency declaration over technological incident; staff to brief council privately

The City of Coco council unanimously approved a one-week extension of a state of emergency on March 19, 2026, adopting Resolution 2026-016 to continue authorities tied to a technological incident that city leaders said affected critical municipal systems.

City Manager Whitten said the extension is the fourth short-term renewal and explained the limits and purposes of the declaration: “This is again the I think this is the fourth extension of that. As you know the resolutions in the state of emergencies can only cover a 7day period,” he said, adding the declaration gives the city manager certain purchasing authorities and allows requests for federal and state assistance.

Whitten told the council briefings are available privately for members but that many technical details are exempt from public disclosure under state law. “Whatever I say to you upstairs is exempt from the sunshine because we're still under the declaration. We're still covered by our Florida statutes... 252, 252.34, 252.38,” he said, and he urged the council to focus on continuity of services.

The city manager also sought to reassure members and residents about service continuity: “We're still providing services... garbage is still being picked up, police are still patrolling, fire is still responding, water customers are still able to pay their bills, water is being delivered,” he said, characterizing recovery as ongoing and not instantaneous.

Several council members pressed staff for a public update after roughly a month under the declaration. One council member said constituents wanted to know what progress had been made and requested a briefing before voting on another extension; others countered that staff had been working relentlessly to maintain services and that technical briefings would be held privately for council oversight.

Deputy Mayor Goins moved to approve the resolution; the motion was seconded by Council Member Weekes. Chair called the question and the council voted unanimously in favor. The resolution extension passed and will remain in effect for the statutory short-term period specified in the declaration.

Why it matters: The declaration temporarily expands the city manager’s spending and purchasing authority and allows the city to seek external assistance; because staff said incident-specific technical details are exempt from public records during the emergency, public transparency about the precise nature of the technological incident will be limited unless and until the exemption ends. Council members said they will receive private briefings on recovery progress.

What’s next: Council members who requested more information were told they could receive detailed briefings individually in the conference room following the meeting. The extension is retroactive to the date stated in the resolution and will need subsequent council action to continue beyond the statutory 7-day period.