POPLARVILLE —
Supervisors on Wednesday signed a contract with Hensley R. Lee Construction, LLC, of Picayune for pickup and disposal of debris generated by Hurricane Isaac, which slammed Pearl River County Aug. 28 through 31 with some of the heaviest rainfall ever recorded here. Lee won the contract on Monday with a $774,190 low bid. Four other companies also bid on the project.
Officials said 22 inches of rain fell while the storm stalled over southeastern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi, causing historic flood levels.
Lee’s work crews were standing by on ready on Wednesday and immediately began picking up debris and disposing of it at Central Landfill at Millard after the contract was signed. No burning is allowed.
Project engineer Les Dungan of Dungan Engineering of Picayune told supervisors on Wednesday that the pickup project would probably last as long as one month, based on how much debris has been estimated to be ready for pickup. However, he said it could last longer.
Dungan also pointed out the contract was let to remove debris from public property and public road rights-of-way. That’s why eligible material to be picked up must be stacked and properly divided along the sides of public roads. He said workers can’t go on private property to initiate a cleanup or to pickup storm-generated debris.
Dungan also said that the contractor’s work crews will make two passes along each public road, separated by a weekend. “So, if anyone thinks they’ve been bypassed, they should get their debris out near the side of the road for a second pass,” said Dungan. “The provisions of the contract call for two passes down each road, with at least one weekend sandwiched in between the two passes. That will give residents more than enough time to get their eligible debris alongside the public road so pick up can be made.”
Dungan said crews are moving as quickly as possible to pick up the debris because it is rotting and becoming a health hazard.
Officials also warned scavengers that those found rummaging through debris trying to salvage junked appliances would be arrested because it scatters the debris and increases the health hazard aspect.
Supervisors on Wednesday also extended an emergency declaration that will allow supervisors to bypass some regular procedures to help speed up the Hurricane Isaac response process. It’s the second time the declaration has been extended by supervisors.
FEMA is funding 75 percent of the cleanup with the state and the county splitting a 25 percent match.
On Monday, others bidding on the cleanup were Huey Stockstill, Inc., of Picayune; Holliday Construction of Poplarville; Philips Trucking Co. of Nicholson and Young’s General Contracting, Inc., of Poplar Bluff, Mo. Bids ranged from Lee’s low bid to $8.9 million.
Dungan said five crews began cleanup operations on Wednesday as soon as the contract was signed by supervisors’ board president J. Patrick Lee. A sixth crew was forming and was supposed to be in the field on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, a crew was already working along Westchester Drive in the Westchester subdivision, one of the hardest hit communities, which was inundated by flood waters from West Hobolochitto Creek and from the main stem of Hobolochitto Creek. Almost every home there was flooded. Estimates of homes damaged during Isaac were as high as 600.
Other flooding occurred along the East and West Hobolochitto Creeks, along Pearl River and along Wolf River, which drains the northeastern part of Pearl River County. East and West Hobolochitto creeks drain the central and western portions of the county. Flooding also occurred in East Picayune from Bay Branch, which was backed up by the highest crest ever recorded along East Hobolochitto Creek. Pearl River forms a boundary line between the states of Mississippi and Louisiana and forms the entire western boundary of Pearl River County. Thousands of homes and camps are built along and near the Pearl in western Pearl River County, and many were flooded during Isaac.
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CLEANUP UNDERWAY—Cleanup of storm debris in Picayune started Wednesday. City Manager Jim Luke said the contract to do the cleanup was awarded to Hensley Lee's company, HRL Contracting. Wednesday morning the crews could be seen along Goodyear Boulevard, below, removing trees that fell during Hurricane Isaac, one of which resulted in the death of tow truck driver Gregory Parker. At left, crews begin the task of hauling away all the debris from hard-hit Westchester subdivision. (Photos by David A. Farrell and Jeremy Pittari)
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