PA Council plan out more debris pickup in the city

Published 8:27 pm Wednesday, October 11, 2017

All the news was made in the speakers and presentations portion of the meeting and not the consent agenda portion at the regular meeting of the Port Arthur City Council on Tuesday night.

Most of the topics were related to Tropical Storm Harvey recovery.

Harold Doucet Sr., District 4 councilman, questioned debris contractors, Trent Davis and Kevin Spindler with Steadfast and Mike Ferguson with O’Brien’s, about the pace of debris pickup in the city and if any progress was being made.

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“We’re six weeks into it (since Tropical Storm Harvey flooded the area). I see a lot of areas that have not been touched,” Doucet said. “I’m getting a lot of calls. What makes me think it’ll be better the next six weeks?”

Michael McClosky with FEMA said the rate of pickup in the city was on par or ahead of others. He added FEMA does not dictate to the debris contractors.

Davis said they have been picking up debris in the city for 32 days, not six weeks.

Doucet asked if they could move any faster.

Davis said they’re adding assets, or trucks, everyday and they’re now up to 51 operating in the city.

“What is your goal?” Doucet asked.

Davis said they will add as many trucks as they can get, “ramp up slowly” to get debris monitors trained and get subcontractors interested in coming to Port Arthur with what the city pays for pickup.

He cautioned that renegotiating the contract would cause things to start over and stunt any progress made.

“Trucks are coming now,” Davis said. “We’ve added 15 to 16 units since last Friday. Things are going in the right direction.”

Doucet said the hardest hit areas should get the priority.

Armando Gutierrez, public works director for the city, said 10,000 cubic yards of debris are being picked up everyday and he estimates they will cover the city in the next 30 days. Thus far, 260,000 cubic yards has been picked up out of a total of 1.4 million cubic yards.

Doucet asked if the city would survive fallout from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for that long over health concerns with the debris.

Davis said TCEQ gets with the contractors every week and tell them how well things look in the job they’re doing. Gutierrez said he agrees with TCEQ’s assessment and he sees progress increasing.

Thomas Kinlaw III, District 3 councilman, asked who determines what areas will be picked up.

Gutierrez said his department highlights streets on a map that already have a first pass for debris cleanup. He added that he will meet with the contractors on Thursday to strategize.

Raymond Scott Jr., District 1 councilman, asked about commercial pickup. Gutierrez said the city is currently focusing on residential pickup and not on commercial pickup. However, they will get permission from FEMA to do one pass on commercial properties. The city will send out notices in a couple of weeks.

Davis said abandoned vehicles in the roadways have hindered progress. Willie “Bae” Lewis Jr., District 5 councilman, said they can contact the chief of police to have the vehicles removed.

Lewis added that areas such as El Vista, Lakeside, Montrose, etc. appear they haven’t been touched.

“It looks like it did on the first day of the storm,” he said.

Mayor Derrick Freeman asked the contractors if they can make an interactive map to show areas that have been picked up. Davis said his company has software for that.

Freeman said Risa Carpenter, public information officer, can create an alert page on the city’s website.

Also approved was a local initiative with Texas Workforce Commission to hire Port Arthur residents to pull debris closer to the curbside for better pickup. The city would be reimbursed for these dollars.