ANNA MARIA – The deadlines have passed to place hurricane-related household and landscaping debris streetside to be removed by the city. But both types of debris piles can still be found alongside city streets even though debris removal is now the responsibility of the property owner.
Oct. 24 was the city’s deadline to place hurricane-damaged household goods curbside to be removed by Oct. 27. Oct. 31 was the deadline to place landscaping debris curbside to be removed by Nov. 3.
On Nov. 1, Mayor Dan Murphy and the city commission discussed hurricane-related debris removal, street damage, swimming pool dewatering and FEMA damage assessments.
Debris removal
Murphy said city staff had already identified approximately 150 new household debris piles placed curbside since the Oct. 24 deadline.
After acknowledging that number will probably grow, Murphy said city staff is recording the debris pile locations that include non-hurricane-related debris placed in front of vacation rental homes and construction sites. He said Waste Management picked up some of the post-deadline debris piles even though they’re not obligated to do so.
Murphy said the city will continue assessing post-deadline debris placement and he and the commission will decide how to proceed during their next emergency meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Murphy said the city will probably have to address post-deadline landscaping debris, too.
Although he doesn’t want the city to be taken advantage of, Murphy doesn’t want to see debris piles littering the city streets.
“Nobody wants that stuff sitting around,” he said. “It attracts rats. It’s ugly and it’s depressing to look at. Seeing your life out on the curb’s not good psychologically, and it’s not good morale-wise.”
On Oct. 24, Murphy estimated the city’s reimbursable debris removal costs to be approximately $1.5 million at that time. On Friday, he estimated it would cost an additional $80,000-$100,000 in reimbursable costs to remove the remaining household debris piles.
During the Oct. 24 meeting, 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.”
Street damage
General Manager Dean Jones said five city streets sustained significant hurricane-related erosion and deterioration: Sycamore, Coconut, Beach, Peppertree and Maple. Jones said the Woodruff & Sons construction company placed #57 stone in the washed-out areas as a temporary safety measure. He estimates it will cost $825,000 to repair the five streets, which he hopes to have completed by the end of November.
Pool dewatering
Jones said the city is now allowing pool dewatering to take place in a controlled and city-permitted manner, with as many as 1,100 pools requiring hurricane-related dewatering. Jones said contractors must submit a dewatering permit for each impacted property. He then approves those permits in a manner that doesn’t allow any city street to become flooded and impassable.
Commissioner Gary McMullen noted many pool areas are now missing the fences required by city code. Murphy said that’s another matter to eventually be addressed by the code enforcement department.
FEMA Assessments
Commissioner Mark Short said FEMA’s 16-person site assessment team was expected to complete the initial damage assessments that day for the 1,173 Anna Maria properties requiring a damage assessment.
“In a little over two weeks, they assessed almost 1,200 properties,” Short said.
During the Oct. 24 meeting, Short said the FEMA assessment teams are collecting information but are not telling property owners what percentage of their property is considered to be hurricane damaged.
Related coverage: Anna Maria completes household debris removal
