Hurricane Harvey brush cleanup costs for the city of Corpus Christi aretotaling several million dollars, but officials are hoping to have nearly all of that reimbursed by the federal government in the future.
The city is expected to pay almost $9 million for debris removal expenses related to Hurricane Harvey cleanup. Those costs include nearly $6.2 million for a debris management contractor, $1.7 million for a company to monitor the process and a little over $1 million for city staff usedin the cleanup.
Lawrence Mikolaczyk, director of Solid Waste Services, said at a Nov. 14 council meeting that the city is in the midst of a final sweep to pick up debris and brush. He acknowledged initial confusion with the initial round after Harvey struck in late August, when cleanup crews were picking up brush only. Residents, Mikolaczyk said, were putting furniture, debris or trash out mixed in with the brush, sothose piles were not collected.
“People, without knowing, they stacked their stuff on top and then that would be a pile that we drove by, and then that was a pile that would generate some emails and some phone calls," he said.
The city is planning to allocate $5 million from its fund balance to help cover the nearly $9 million in costs associated with the Harvey cleanup process. Corpus Christi has received a partial grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency of about $4.1 million that will cover the rest of that amount.
City Manager Margie Rose saidshe is hopeful that they would get 100 percent of that $5 million back from FEMA in the future.
"So, even though we’re getting monies out of the fund balance, hopefully when we get (that reimbursement)we will be able to put it back into the fund balance," she said.
City officials also pointed to news earlier this month that Gov. Greg Abbottwould release funds from the state’s Solid Waste Disposal Fee account back to areas impacted by Harvey. The city of Corpus Christi collects that $1.25-per-ton fee at the Cefe Valenzuela Landfill and sends it to Austin on a quarterly basis, Mikolaczyk said.
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That could also be additional funding for localHurricane Harvey debris and brush cleanup, though it's unclear how and when that would be distributed.
“We are the largest contributor to that fund because we have the largest volumes in the landfill,” hesaid. “We can contribute up to $500,000 a year that the customers pay us out there, so that’s a very large fund there.”
Council members later questioned why some areas were missed during the first sweep after Harvey hit, with some of those not scheduled to be visited again until early January. Mikolaczyk said some areas, like cul de sacs, were missed because heavy equipment had trouble getting into those locations.
“I’m not going to say 100 percent, but we’re close,” he replied.
Rose defended city staff, as well, and said that in some instances residents would put brush and debris on their curbs right after cleanup crews had passed through certain areas.
"We need the citizens to help us, but putting things out right after we picked it up does seem like we have not done anything," she said.
Mikolaczyk said those missed areas would be included in the last sweep the city is conducting, which will not require residents to separate brush from debris. Council member Lucy Rubio said that while she had seen trucks and crews working daily to clean up the city after Harvey, she hoped it could be done more efficiently moving forward.
“They’re hurt and they’re frustrated,” Rubio said of local residents. “They had to have their children go down their streets for trick-or-treating with the trash there, and now they’re going to have to see that trash during the Christmas holidays.”
“I just want to make sure that we’re taken care of."
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Council members also questioned whether FEMA would consider funding repairs to city streets affected by the high numberof heavy trucks moving through the area for cleanup. City staff said that was an inquiry that could be made, but FEMA has not traditionally funded infrastructure projects in the past.
Mayor Joe McComb later asked city officials to consider waiving certain brush and debris disposal requirements in order to allow private citizens an opportunity to clean up their neighborhoods, rather than relying solely on city staff. He even proposed waivinglandfill fees and other restrictions for 30 days after a natural disaster.
“We’ve got rules and regulations that are so rigid, that there needs to be a plan that says, ‘In the event of a hurricane, all these rules and regulations go out the window for 30 days,’” he said. “You could have gotten 5or 10 percent of this stuff picked up free if people didn’t have to worry about paying for it when they took it out (to the landfill).”
“I just think we underestimate the willingness of the public to help us, but then we kill that enthusiasm by the rules and regulations we’ve imposed."
City leaders have already conducted the final sweep in twoareas of the city and are in the midst of completing another. Preparations are underway for pickups to begin in Sector 4 on Monday.
For more information on the collection schedule, visitwww.cctexas.com/debrispickupto view a map of pickup progress. Anyone who may have been missed in the areas already passed on the final sweep cancall 361-826-CITY (2489) to place a work order with Solid Waste Services.
Residents can also take debris to the J.C. Elliott Transfer Station, located at State Highway 286 and Ayers Street,free of charge. The station is open Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
