Houston City Council to vote on declaring public emergency

Michael Rovito/Frontiersman

Houston — The Houston City Council will vote this evening to declare a public emergency in the town responding to high energy prices.

If approved, the declaration will be sent to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, jumpstarting a process used to determine if an emergency exists.

The ordinance's sponsor, Houston City Councilman Roger Purcell, said the steady rise in fuel prices — a rise analysts don't expect to stop anytime soon — made this the right time to take action.

“By declaring an emergency it allows us to streamline the process and get everyone on board to look at what we can do,” Purcell said Wednesday.

The problem in Houston, Purcell said, is nearly 80 percent of residents use heating oil or some other form of fuel because city provided natural gas is largely unavailable in Houston.

“Over the years the previous city council has done nothing to get natural gas into the city,” Purcell said.

If sate funding that typically follows disaster declarations is made available in Houston, Purcell said the city could explore alternatives to using fuel oil, such as biofuels like wood pellets.

Purcell also said since 1982 the city has been talking about a mass-transit train from Houston to Anchorage. He said funding could give Houston the boost it needs to commission special assistance and studies.

If Houston's city council gets behind Purcell and declares an emergency, it will start a process used by the state government to determine if an emergency exists.

Palin's press secretary, Sharon Leighow, said the emergency declaration will be sent to the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs. From there, officials would consult the community, find out what the situation is and determine if a disaster policy cabinet should be convened.

Leighow said typically to qualify for a disaster a public safety or health issue must be present.

Tonight's special meeting of the Houston City Council begins at 7 p.m. at 13965 Armstrong Rd.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@frontiersman.com.