Clay County Times-Democrat: Local News: City Council holds special meeting on ice storm response (03/04/09)

The pile of debris from the recent ice storm continues to grown near the Piggott sewer lagoon.

The Piggott City Council met in special session Friday afternoon to hear an update on the aftermath of the late-January ice storm and to approve two measures related to the weather emergency. Council members also reviewed the mounting costs of the clean-up and were informed that NRCS will be handling the effort along Sugar Creek.

All four members were in attendance, along with mayor Gerald Morris, city clerk Ramona Magee, city attorney John Lingle and street superintendent Gary Chronister.

The first order of business was for council to approve and ratify the actions of the mayor in response to the ice storm in regard to commitments to outside electric crews, purchases of equipment and debris cleanup. The second measure allowed the city attorney to draft a resolution that would give the mayor authority to borrow money on a short term note, if necessary, until the city is reimbursed for such expenses. Both measures passed without dissent.

Morris told the council that the city has estimated damage to the electrical system at $1,250,000, and that he told FEMA that debris removal is going to cost the city around $150,000.

"We're estimating that the outside crews are going to cost us between $470,000 and $480,000 and that doesn't include materials, power plant crews or overtime for our own workers," Morris added.

City leaders did get some good news at the meeting, as Chronister informed the aldermen that the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) will be taking care of debris removal along Sugar Creek. "The NRCS told us they'd do it all, especially around the bridges," Chronister informed the group. "It's going to help us out a lot."

He also told the council there is a time limit on disposing of the debris. "We have 60 days from the date of the declaration, which was Feb. 6, to get the limbs and debris hauled away." Chronister added that the city is asking residents to call in when they place large piles of limbs and debris at the curb for pick up as the clean-up effort continues.

Meanwhile, crews continue to haul dozens of loads of limbs to the staging area near the city's sewer lagoon, and each day the pile grows larger.