The process of removing small mountains of tree limbs, branches and other debris from alongside practically every street in Charleston was set to begin this week.
On a motion by Ward 2 Alderman Lloyd Smith and a second by Ward 1 Alderman Gyrone Kenniel, the Charleston Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday night to give the go-ahead to a private contractor waiting in the wings to undertake the cleanup.
The board order directs Southern Disaster Recovery (SDR) to proceed with the mammoth task necessitated by widespread damage due to a late-January ice storm.
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SDR Senior Project Manager Chris Johnson told The Sun-Sentinel Tuesday that their bucket truck crews might begin work as early as Wednesday.
Charleston recently entered into a 30-day emergency contract with SDR to redress the mess in the storm-ravaged city. On Feb. 12, equipment and personnel began staging in a parking lot adjacent to the former National Guard armory on South Cossar Avenue.
The South Carolina-headquartered SDR is the overall management company for the job. SDR subcontracts with other firms, including North Carolina-based Pride Contracting Inc., which is providing dozens of workers and heavy equipment for the project.
SDR subcontractors are open to hiring local residents to assist, Johnson said, and a number of people attending Tuesday night’s roughly 25-minute city board meeting expressed interest.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced local governments and nonprofits in 18 additional Mississippi counties, including Tallahatchie, Panola, Quitman and Yalobusha, are now eligible for federal Public Assistance grants to support debris removal related to the winter storm. The order had been expected and highly anticipated, as FEMA will reimburse 75% of the costs while state and local governments pick up the rest.
The state of Mississippi is expected to pay 12.5% or more of the remaining debris removal expenses.
Johnson noted that five bucket trucks and five haul trucks with grapples will perform the primary work of cutting down dangling tree limbs and picking up piles along city streets, but he said skid steers and wheel loaders also have a role in the undertaking.
He cautioned there may be some inconvenience for city residents and motorists.
“Unfortunately, the streets are narrow and we’re going to have to have some streets that will be closed for a while,” he noted. “Be patient with us. Give us time. I think within 30 to 45 days, we can have the city back to as close to normal as it can be.”
Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith Sr. recently told city residents that they must pile up tree cuttings and related debris alongside the street, noting that the contractor will not enter private property.
Johnson reiterated the point, urging city residents to “get their debris out there” by the street.
“We’re not going to be able to go onto private property,” he said. “We can only work on publicly owned property. If everyone will get their debris to the right-of-way, then we can legally pick it up. Right now, that is the extent of our mission.”
While collecting debris piles will be a major part of the process, Johnson added that another top priority will be bringing down hazardous limbs that now precariously overhang public spaces.
Many tree limbs and branches that broke off from trees due to the ice did not fall all the way to the ground. Some got hung up in trees and are just dangling.
“There are a whole lot of hazardous limbs up in trees that are leaning that, if it rains or we get another wind event, those will probably come down,” he noted. “Those limbs are what we need to get done pretty quick, because they’re going to start falling and hitting people, knocking out power or hitting structures or cars.”
Johnson said SDR learned earlier Tuesday that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality had granted approval of their application for a permit to burn, at a designated location outside the city limits, tree limbs and branches that are collected within Charleston.
He noted that debris will be transported to a site off Highway 32, about three miles east of Charleston, where it will be burned under careful watch according to federal and state regulations. He said the permit allows round-the-clock burning.
Johnson said the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors also voted Tuesday “to enter into an emergency contract” with SDR for debris removal in the wide-ranging expanse of rural sections of the county.
Temporary debris site approvals are still pending for the work in rural Tallahatchie County, he said.
“I expect to be working in the county by the end of the week pending execution of the contract and approval of sites,” Johnson noted.
The county had been seeking bids for debris removal.
Under FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program, local and state governments are partially reimbursed for the costs of emergency response, debris removal and restoration of disaster-damaged public facilities and infrastructure. Certain nonprofit organizations and houses of worship may also be eligible for assistance.
