Distribution sites to have own ice trucks by Monday
The first trucks bearing hurricane relief supplies arrived in Columbia County Sunday morning bearing ice, bottled water, tarps and MREs for distribution, easing the tension between county commissioners and public officials and the public aid distribution process was launched at six locations around the county.
Assistant County Manager Kevin Kirby gave the logistics report to commissioners during Sunday’s emergency management update and said distribution points for the free items for Columbia County residents would be at county-owned community centers at Deep Creek, Winfield, Fort White, Lulu and Mason City and at the Southside Recreation Complex in Lake City.
As of the county’s 4 p.m. meeting and report on Sunday, Kirby said the county still had a total of 32 pallets of MREs, 21 pallets of water and a half pallet of tarps remaining today.
Ice was the most desired commodity. Temperatures in Columbia County topped out in the low 90s on Sunday with bright sunshine beating down on cleanup efforts.
Kirby said more ice was on the way.
“We have an agreement with CDT trucking and they are sending six trucks to Orlando to pick up ice and each location will have its own truckload, a truck stationed there,” Kirby said.
Florida National Guard troops have been activated and several dozen will be present in Columbia County for the duration of the emergency. National Guard soldiers will be present at each of the six distribution centers to assist with distributing the items. Soldiers will not be armed. Security will be provided by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, said Chief Deputy Katina Dicks.
Kirby said items that still are in need at each of the sites as of Sunday evening include the following: Lulu - tarps and ice; Mason City - tarps, ice and MREs; Deep Creek - tarps; Southside Rec - tarps and ice. Winfield Community Center and Fort White Community Center both are stocked.
“I don’t care if we have to go to California to get it, but we’re going to get what we need,” Kirby said.
Kirby also reported the temporary bathroom and shower facilities at the centers would be cleaned twice daily, at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. by in-house county employees.
On the operations side of the recovery process, Kirby reported that 221 of 343 locations without downed power lines involved have been cut and tossed with the debris stacked along county road rights of way. He reported that 61 of 164 locations involving downed power lines had been cleared and cut and tossed, as well.
Kirby said he expected the 12 crews on the job to be nearly complete with the cut and toss phase of the road clearing throughout the county sometime Monday morning.
He said the debris collection phase will begin on Monday. Contractor trucks were beginning to show up over the weekend Kirby said the plan was to have eight trucks and trailers with grapples on the roads by Monday afternoon. The crews will consist of two men per crew and eight crews total.
Kirby told commissioners to expect a record debris collection from this storm. He said Hurricane Idalia’s debris collection a year ago totaled 52,641 cubic yards of debris deposited in the county landfill. A month ago, debris from Hurricane Debby totaled 26,223 cubic yards of organic matter. Kirby told commissioners his estimation was that more than 100,000 cubic yards of organic debris would be collected from what Hurricane Helene left behind.
Landfill open and free to use
County residents, not contractors, may haul their organic storm debris to the county landfill and drop it off free of charge seven days per week for the next few weeks until the storm cleanup is deemed complete, Kirby said. This is a free service for Columbia County residents.
Personal debris cleanup
Individuals who clean up their own property without using a contractor may stack their organic storm debris at the edge of their property in the right of way and cleanup contractors will come by in a few weeks and pick up the debris free of charge. Kirby said if contractors leave debris, such as large logs from tree cutting, at the side of the road, the property owner will be charged the cost of hauling away the debris.
Garbage pickup delayed a day
If your normal scheduled garbage pickup day was scheduled for Friday, your pickup day will be Monday this week. Monday’s schedule will be pushed back to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday, etc. This week works the same as a holiday schedule, Kirby said.