Debris concerns continue to loom tall for Augusta city leaders

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• FEMA aid: Local renters can apply for assistance after Hurricane Helene
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A month after Hurricane Helene, the pace of debris cleanup continues to be on Augusta leaders’ minds.

It was a key topic of discussion when Augusta Commission and other officials met at the committee level Tuesday, with leaders approving millions to go toward that cleanup.

The city is trying to make a deadline of 90 days to get the debris cleaned up, something that’s happening every day with trucks committed to traversing every street, some of them multiple times.

Crews are still on their first , according to officials.

“We know every area will get at least two es,” said Steve Cassell of ISM Engineering, the debris contractor. “Some areas like up in the Montclair area, I don’t know that we’ll ever leave that area. We’ll have something there all the time.”

The city can go beyond 90 days with the cleanup, but it’ll cost money.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the city for 100% of the costs if it meets the 90-day deadline.

“After 90 days, it becomes 75% percent reimbursement,” City Temeka Allen said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Cassell said 95 hauling units are operating right now.

He said there are five hazardous tree-cutting crews moving in right now, and a fifth debris management site is opening up on Friday at Hyde Park.

He said 592,153 cubic yards have been collected so far. Cassell said a cubic yard is about the size of a washing machine. The amount of debris picked up so far would fill up the Augusta-Richmond County Municipal Building 11 times.

He said Walton Way and Wheeler Road are two areas of high importance in of removing the debris.

They’re streets lined by highly wooded lots where many tall trees were taken down by the hurricane.

Huge piles of debris are stacked in the rights-of-way along the roads waiting to be picked up, and some of it sticks out perilously close to ing vehicles.

He said he’s working with utility companies to try to get some of the remaining downed and de-energized lines removed.

“It’s not that we think they’re dangerous or we’re not allowed to pick them up,” he said, but crews could grab one that’s still attached to a utility pole and end up taking down the pole, he said.

There will be a phase when contractors will give a list to FEMA regarding debris on private land that people can’t get to the street and other issues, “and they’ll go out and look to declare that it’s a public safety hazard that needs to be addressed for the overall public good, and then and we can start looking towards that.”

That could include private and gated communities.

Augusta Commission member Wayne Guilfoyle raised concerns about rental properties where landlords may not even be aware of a problem.

“We’re trying to develop a list of places where we can go on private property and remove debris,” Cassell said. “But there are volunteer organizations that are here to help as well.”

Commissioner Sean Frantom expressed anger at contractors from outside the area who are coming in and taking advantage of people, charging high rates and convincing people that trees need to be taken down when they really don’t.

And he’s concerned they’re piling debris in the streets.

Cassell said he’s reached out to law enforcement “a couple of times to just let them know that if there’s a Bobcat in the street, it’s not ours.”

“If it’s out on Walton Way, chances are that’s a private contractor illegally dumping in the roadway,” he said.

“My hope as we get this under control.”

Frantom asked Cassell whether the public will be able to purchase wood chips and mulch the debris is being converted into.

“There’s a way to do it, and I’ll look into that,” Cassell said.

Other storm repercussions

When it comes to repairing infrastructure, the city has well more than 90 days.

She said permanent repairs to city infrastructure and facilities will be reimbursed at 75%.

“We currently have 18 months to complete this work,” Allen said. “In the past 30 days, all departments have been working with our contractor to prepare the documents for FEMA reimbursements.”

She said the 311 hotline – the number to call for issues with city services and utilities – has recorded more than 27,000 requests – “and this was not nearly all of the calls that came into their office, which that number exceeded 37,000 requests.”

She said all traffic signals are up and operational now.

That doesn’t mean traffic signals are without problems.

They are out of synch, which means traffic can bunch up at intersections, with the length of signals not reflecting the flow of traffic. It creates long waits at lights and long lines of cars – sometimes all the way back to the previous where intersection.

“The traffic team is working on phase two, and that is making sure that they synchronize the signals,” Allen said. “They have looked at the priority areas. And they’re working on Riverwatch and Washington Road, and they’ve already addressed the Eisenhower signals.”

Wes Byne, city utilities director, also offered an update to commissioners on Tuesday.

He said the city is being understanding with customers from a billing perspective.

“There’s no transfer fees if you have to move from a house to another house or to an apartment because your house was damaged,” he said. “We’re going to have no late fees and no cuts until January, unless you have a chronic issue that existed before the storm.”

He said his staff will work with customers on an individual basis, and “we’re not trying to penalize people during this time.”

He said customers will get a 25% credit to the base charges.

That’s because water service was out or drastically reduced for about a week after the storm.

“We’re not trying to punish people who were impacted negatively as a result of the hurricane, and so we’re working with those items to try to make sure everybody has some confidence that if they have a crazy bill, we’re going to work with them on it,” he said, “and we’re going to make sure that it should be as normal as it would be this time of year.”

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