City Raises Storm Debris Contract To $1 Million
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
The cleanup of downed trees and storm debris following Winter Storm Fern will cost at least $1 million in the city.
WATER VALLEY — The Water Valley Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday night, March 3, to increase the city’s debris removal contract limit to $1 million as cleanup from Winter Storm Fern continues across the city.
Mayor Tommy Reynolds told aldermen the increase was necessary as contractors continue removing storm debris from city streets and rights-of-way.
“We lowballed our limits,” Reynolds said about the initial awarding of the contract immediately after the storm. “We need to amend our contract from $500,000 to a million dollars for debris removal.”
The work is being handled by contractor Looks Great Services, which currently has six trucks operating in the city. Crews have been focusing on Main and Jones streets and are expected to move next to Wagner Street and Market Street this week during spring break.
Despite the increased contract limit, Reynolds said the city’s financial exposure remains limited because most of the costs will be reimbursed through disaster recovery programs.
“FEMA will pay 75 percent, MEMA pays 12.5 percent and the city pays 12.5 percent,” Reynolds explained.
Much of the city’s share can be offset through in-kind contributions.
“We can count all of the donated activities,” Reynolds said. “We have a fire truck posted with a firefighter at the burn site. All the meals that were served, that is countable. Sleeping 40 to 50 people at Fountain Square is countable. The work of our citizens in feeding the linemen, all of that is countable.”
Laurel Matula of ER Assist, who is assisting the city with FEMA documentation, said the city should have no difficulty meeting its required local match.
“I don’t see any risk,” Matula said.
Matula said the city can count both municipal equipment and volunteer labor toward its share of the project.
“Our volunteer efforts are something I will need a little bit of community support on,” she said. “I will send a survey or form that folks can fill out.”
Reynolds said crews have already cut more than 2,000 dangerous hanging limbs, often referred to as “hangers.”
“If y’all haven’t done the hangers, it might have moved a little quicker,” Reynolds said.
Aldermen approved the contract amendment unanimously.
In a related action, the board also voted to extend the city’s emergency declaration related to the storm for another 30 days.
“We are in an emergency situation because of the ice storm,” Reynolds said. “It needs to be continued.”
Aldermen also ratified a memorandum of understanding with the Mississippi Department of Transportation covering portions of city streets that are also state highways, including Main Street, Blackmur Drive and Frostland Drive. Under the agreement, MDOT will cover the city’s 12.5 percent share for the first pass of debris removal along those roadways. Contractors are making multiple passes throughout the city, meaning the city will remain responsible for additional cleanup beyond the initial MDOT-covered pass.
