What’s happening?
During the Aug. 27 session of Commissioners Court, commissioners expressed dissatisfaction with a request from CrowderGulf, LLC, for an additional $10 million in funding for debris removal in the county.
“We've already picked up more debris than we anticipated,” said Jason Millsaps, executive director of the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “There's still a lot of debris to be picked up.”
Millsaps said the county has picked up 1.2 million cubic yards of debris with another 400,000 cubic yards estimated to be picked up from roadways. However, some commissioners expressed doubt regarding the source of the debris being from actual storm damage.
“I’ve witnessed, in The Woodlands, trees being cut down that are standing dead; trees piled up in the right of way, and then [the county] picking it up, and that has to stop,” Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said.
Millsaps also said the county has an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to pick up debris from residential properties along the state right of way. In exchange for the pickup, the county was granted a right to reimbursement from TxDOT for any funding available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for debris cleanup.
The breakdown
Commissioners allocated $14.6 million for debris removal on July 16, but the new cost estimate from CrowderGulf anticipates a total of $24 million in debris removal.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray asked whether the commissioners could handle remaining debris pickup instead of contracting to another company, but Millsaps said that process would include moving, grinding and disposing of 400,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris, which could take several months for the commissioners' offices to complete.
“I'm not spending the next six months picking [up] my stuff,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said. “I’ve got too much to do.”
Without the funding approval, Millsaps said all debris pickup operation would have to cease until a funding agreement was reached.
What’s next
Commissioners agreed to hold a special meeting Sept. 3 to have a representative from CrowderGulf present the reasoning behind the high cost of the debris removal. Until the meeting, debris pickup operation will cease starting Aug. 27.
