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1993-03-18 Emergency Meeting . . . ~ MINUTES OF EMERGENCY SESSION, MARCH 18, 1993 PAGE 376 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met in an Emergency Session on Thursday, March 18, 1993, at 4:45 P.M. in the 1st Floor Assembly Room of the New Hanover County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present were: Commissioners Sandra Barone; William A. Caster; William E. Sisson, Jr; Vice-Chairman E. L. Mathews, Jr.; Chairman Robert G. Greer; County Manager, Allen O'Neal; County Attorney, Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F. Har~ell. Chairman Greer called the meeting to order and reported this is a continued Emergency Session that was called on Saturday, March 13, 1993, to issue a State of Emergency due to the recent storm. The County is still in a State of Emergency status and the purpose of this meeting is to discuss vegetative debris removal in the unincorporated areas of the County in order to protect the public health and safety of our citizens. Spring is the time of year when strong winds and low humidity create fires; therefore, it is imperative that immediate action be taken to assist the citizens with debris removal. County Manager O'Neal requested the Director of Emergency Management, Dan Summers, to present a status report on the events of the March 13, 1993 storm. As of this date, the President of the united States has not signed a Declaration of Disaster for the State of North Carolina; therefore, the County may not be reimbursed for the debris removal. UPDATE ON MARCH 13, 1993 STORK Director of Emergency Management, Dan Summers, reported the County and State are waiting on the Presidential Disaster Declaration; however, due to search and rescue operations now in progress in the western part of the State and the recently declared Snow Emergency, it is felt there will be a delay in this action. The following report was presented: -The Federal and State Composite team for Disaster, Relief, and Assistance has arrived and is presently reviewing videos and pictures of the damage for an'initial compilation on the daily survey reports performed by the County on Sunday. The team will remain in town overnight and in the morning divide into teams to examine the following categories: -Residential Damage: This category includes individual and payment grant programs through FEMA to assist families with restoring their homes and returning to a sound economic base. -Small Businesses: The FEMA representative is here and will be representing the Small Business Administration (SBA) . Some small businesses, such as the fishing industry and others, will be reviewed to see if they qualify for SBA assistance u~der a Presidential Disaster Declaration. -Public Assistance Proqrams: These programs will address debris removal and damage that has occurred to the infrastructure in the municipalities within County. Two teams will be appointed to review the County areas and another to review the areas within the City of Wilmington. At the present time, the beach communities have not received enough .damage to warrant relief from Public Assistance funds; however, if the survey of damage should change, a team will be appointed to visit the beach communities. ' ~ ;- ( MINUTES OF EMERGENCY SESSION, MARCH 18, 1993 PAGE 37:] These teams will report their findings to the state and Federal levels at which time the County will receive information on funding reimbursements. Due to the storm impacting the entire eastern seaboard, time will be required to complete the damage assessments; therefore, the County will have to wait to hear if reimbursements will be received. PRESENTATION OF DEBRIS REMOVAL PLAN Director of Environmental Management, Ray Church, presented the following plan for removal of approximately 5,000 tons of vegetative debris caused by the storm: n Phase I - Collections The plan consists of developing contracts for the collection of debris from the rights-of-way and the processing of the collected debris. The collection process consists of developing contracts with the County's residential waste haulers to remove the majority of debris which will fit into compactor trucks. The County has been divided into zones with each hauler agreeing to service a particular zone. This plan can be implemented upon approval by the Board of County Commissioners. The following haulers have agreed to provide this service for $80 per ton with verification by certified weight scales. The collection is proposed to run through April 10, 1993. A-1 Sanitation A&M Sanitation Waste Industries Waste Management Windfish Disposal Services () Phase II - Removal of Large Tree Trunks, Branches and stumps Phase II will consists of removing large tree trunks, large branches, and stumps from the rights-of-way after Phase I has progressed to the point that locations of the large debris can be identified. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has received approval to participate contingent upon the County paying their direct costs for rental of equipment and labor. Contract arrangements have not been finalized as of this time. The debris will be delivered to the disposal contractor for processing. To reduce the amount of timber size debris as well as tonnage, the County is developing a list of contractors who routinely cut pine trees for pulp wood. The Department of Environmental Management will act as a clearinghouse to match the homeowners with a pulp wood contractor who can provide this service. There will probably be a charge to the homeowners for the removal of the pulpwood from private property. The disposal of the collected debris is proposed by chipping the debris into a wood fuel or mulch material. A draft contract with Wilmington Sand & Gravel Company, Inc. has been prepared for processing the material at $25 per ton. The contract is for a turn-key operation with Wilmington Sand & Gravel Company taking full responsibility for the debris upon receipt. Also, there is a possibility that the County will receive free mulch. The County will provide transportation costs and Wilmington Sand & Gravel will provide the loading. wilmington Sand & Gravel has agreed to extend the contract price for debris processing to the municipalities if the municipalities desire to do so. The County will not arrange for collections or processing of debris from the municipalities. The municipalities are responsible for their own expenses. n l . . . ~ / . ; MINUTES OF EMERGENCY SESSION, MARCH 18, 1993 PAGE 378 Phase III - Other Recommendations Homeowners removing vegetative storm debris should be diverted from the Landfill to Wilmington Sand & Gravel. It is staff's recommendation that this debris processing should be considered as part of the County's contract if removed from the unincorporated area of the County. Landscape contractors and tree trimming contractors should also be diverted from the Landfill to Wilmington Sand & Gravel with the following exception: landscaping contractors and tree trimming contractors should be allowed to stock pile fireplace cut lengths of wood at the Landfill for potential use by the Wood Lot Program at no cost to the contractors if there is certification that the residents were not charged a disposal fee in the charge for services rendered. The Commissioners were requested to approve the Debris Removal Plan as presented and authorize a media release immediately to inform the public about the prog~am and seek the citizens cooperation in preparing debris for removal. Vice-Chairman Mathews requested including the address of Wilmington Sand & Gravel in the media release and also recommended developing a pre-emergency plan that would be implemented as quickly as possible for debris removal after a storm. Director Church commented on moving toward this direction and reported the plan presented has been very quickly prepared and ready for implementation. Discussion was held on the possibility that the County will not receive FEMA reimbursement for the debris removal. Emphasis was placed on the possible fire hazard without immediate removal of the debris and the need to proceed with the plan in order to protect the general public. Motion: After further discussion of public health and safety, Vice-Chairman Mathews MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Caster to accept the three phases of the plan and award the contracts to the five waste haulers and Wilmington Sand and Gravel, Inc. for removal of debris in the unincorporated areas of the County as a result of the March 13, 1993 storm and to approve the following Budget Amendment: . BUDGET AMENDMENT 93-0158 Non-Departmental/Department of Emergency Management Debit Credit Non-Departmental Contingencies $155,000 Department of Emerqencv Manaqement FEMA Federal Grant $450,000 Contracted Services - Care Emergency Measures $600,000 $ 5,000 Purpose: To transfer $155,000 from Contingencies and budget anticipated FEMA funds in the amount of $450,000 to contract for removal of trash and debris caused by the March storm. The FEMA funds should cover 75% of the cleanup cost. An amount of $5,000 transferred from Contingencies will be used for emergency measures. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Chairman Greer, on behalf of the Board, expressed appreciation to Emergency Management Director, Dan Summers, his staff, and other County employees who worked so diligently in carrying out the State ..... r- , MINUTES OF EMERGENCY SESSION, KARCH 18, 1993 PAGE 319 of Emergency. A special thank you was expressed to Deputy County Manager, Mary Gornto, who performed an outstanding job as the Public Information Officer and also filled in for the County Manager, who was out-of-town. The Director of Environmental Management, Ray Church, and his staff were also complimented for the outstanding job performed in preparing the Debris Removal Plan. Vice-Chairman Mathews reported on hearing rumors that the Zoning Enforcement Officers were looking for signs that have blown down and were being rather unreasonable with replacement requirements. County Manager O'Neal responded that he would check into this matter. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Greer announced that the state of Emergency should be tabled, therefore, the Emergency Session will remain open. Motion: commissioner Barone MOVED, SECONDED by Commissioner Caster to adj ourn the meeting. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Chairman Greer adjourned at 5:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, ~vd~ Lucie F. Harrell Clerk to the Board n () ()