By Sarah Stevick
Mayor, Bulverde

This particular column marks a milestone of 150 consecutive weekly columns I have written since my first column in 2005.

On March 31, council passed an ordinance, effective April 9, that allows the burning of yard waste, such as trees, as well as land clearing within TCEQ guidelines. Bexar and Comal Counties, as of April 15 have worked out an agreement with TCEQ which allows residents to now burn. I’d like to thank the TCEQ representatives for helping this city in this matter.

During a natural disaster or other type of emergency, residents expect their city staff/officials to continue to operate and provide up-to-date information while add-ressing the emergency. While Comal County has a state of the art Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and has supported this city in all EOC operations, there will be times that a city EOC needs to be established.

City Hall is Bulverde’s designated EOC. Until recently, City Hall faced the same problems as homeowners during an emergency with the loss of electricity and communications. The city has recently re-ceived approximately $40,000 in national grant money for the following items/actions:

150 Amp 20KW Kohler diesel-powered, trailer-mounted generator to power City Hall/EOC during a power outage.

Nine emergency response kits which have been distributed to our police officers for incidents involving hazardous chemicals.

Installation of extension phone lines for an Emergency Operations Center.

Communication is vital when dealing with an emergency. The above equipment/ actions will help insure that city government will continue to function and support residents without interruption during an emergency.