ANNA MARIA – The city of Anna Maria is done removing hurricane-related household debris and the removal of any remaining household debris is now the responsibility of the property owner.
Thursday, Oct. 31 is the deadline for landscaping debris to be placed streetside for removal by the city.
Mayor Dan Murphy provided a recap of the city’s debris removal efforts during the Anna Maria City Commission’s Oct. 24 meeting. He also addressed the return of mail service and the dewatering of hurricane- impacted swimming pools. Commissioner Chair Mark Short provided an update on the FEMA assessment teams working their way through the city.
Debris removal
Before Murphy provided his update, longtime resident and former city commissioner Doug Copeland said, “I want to commend and thank the commission, the staff and all the private partners who have done an amazing job cleaning up the city under the leadership of Mayor Murphy. It’s a prime example of how city government should work and I thank you.”
Murphy said 1,130 truckloads and 4,798 tons of debris had been taken to the county landfill to date. He said hurricanes Helene and Milton have cost the city an estimated $3 million to date and the city used $1.5 million of its $3 million reserve fund to cover the initial debris removal costs.
“We expect to be reimbursed by the state next week,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he met with Sen. Jim Boyd and Florida Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie earlier in the week and they congratulated the city on its debris removal efforts.
“He (Guthrie) said we were far ahead of anybody else in the county, maybe the rest of the state,” Murphy said. “I know there have been rumors to the contrary coming from another city that we have not done things according to the book. We’ve done things according to the book. It bothers me that you’ve got to take hits for doing what’s right and be ambushed with false reports.”
Murphy said the debris removal trucks would make one more pass through every city street on Friday or Saturday and that would end the city’s household debris removal efforts.
“Anything after that is going to be the responsibility of the homeowner,” Murphy said.
Any remaining household debris removal issues will be addressed by the city’s code enforcement and public works departments.
“Landscaping debris a different story,” Murphy said. “We have mounds of landscaping debris. It was far greater than we expected, so we’re extending that landscaping debris removal for an extra week. That has to be on the street by midnight on Thursday (Oct. 31). We’ll divide the city into five sectors and pick it up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
Murphy then said, “I want to thank Dean Jones, the rest of the city staff and the contractors we’ve had working for us. People have gone out of their way to get this debris out. I know we still have a way to go, but through your coordination efforts Dean we’ve come a great distance.”
Pool dewatering
Murphy also addressed dewatering swimming pools. He said it didn’t make sense to begin dewatering pools until the household debris was removed and the dewatering allowances would start on Monday, Oct. 28.
“So many pools were destroyed. My own was loaded with mud. My wife found fish in it,” Murphy said. “We’re going to regulate that street-by-street so we don’t have everybody dewatering at one time.”
Regarding Gulf Drive, Pine Avenue, North Shore Drive, North Bay Boulevard and South Bay Boulevard, Murphy said, “The main arteries of the city need to be passable for emergency vehicles and our own traffic. If we had everybody dewatering at once, it would create impassable streets and we can’t have that.”
Mail service
Murphy expressed his gratitude for the assistance U.S. Sen. Rick Scott provided in getting a temporary post office established at City Pier Park. Murphy said he texted Scott on Friday night and told him Anna Maria needed mail service restored. The following day, Murphy received a call from a vice president of the U.S. Postal Service and on Monday three mail trucks were stationed at City Pier Park for mail retrieval.
FEMA assessments
Commissioner Mark Short said FEMA’s 16-person site assessment team arrived in Anna Maria the previous week and are going door-to-door conducting site assessments. Short said the FEMA teams are filling out forms to be used for informational purposes but they are not telling property owners what percentage of their property is considered to be hurricane damaged.
Short said the FEMA teams will attempt to assess 1,173 properties in Anna Maria. As of the previous day, they had assessed 415 properties. Short said each assessment takes 20 to 30 minutes. The FEMA teams are assessing approximately 80 properties per day and are expected to finish their work on Friday, Nov. 1.
