Storm debris cleanup contract amended to pay more per cubic yard

Storm debris contractors in Columbia County will earn more money per load removed from roadsides and have incentives to move faster each day after the agreement between contractors and the county was amended Thursday morning.

Contractors now will earn $14.98 per cubic yard of organic waste picked up and hauled to the county’s five approved dump sites. County commissioners voted 5-0 during an emergency meeting Thursday morning at the county’s Emergency Operations Center to approve the pay increase from what was $10.48 per cubic yard for tree and limb debris removal left behind by Hurricane Helene.

The payment increase is expected to be a $400,000 expenditure, but one the county expects to have reimbursed, officials said.

Assistant County Manager Kevin Kirby and County Attorney Joel Foreman said the contract amendment was necessary after FEMA-approved storm cleanup contractor Ceres Environmental Services, Inc., informed the county Wednesday they would pause their work in Columbia County on Friday to work elsewhere for a higher wage, then possibly return to Columbia County in a few months to complete the work, since its contract allowed 180 days total to complete the job.

The amended contract will pay Ceres the $14.98 per cubic yard amount with the incentive it must collect 4,500 cubic yards of debris per day, as certified by both group’s FEMA-approved storm cleanup monitor, Synergy Disaster Recovery.

“It’s an incentivized agreement,” Kirby said. “If they collect the 4,500 cubic yards per day, they get the increase for that day. If they collect one yard less, the contract reverts back to the old amount and they get the $10.48 per yard rate for that day. They agreed to it in writing.”

Kirby and Foreman said the agreement was to the county’s advantage.

Here are quick facts about the amended agreement:

• President Biden has promised all Hurricane Helene cleanup expenses filed within 90 days of the storm through FEMA will be reimbursed at 100% reimbursement.
• The incentive will cost the county more, but speed along the timeframe for the cleanup, allowing it to wrap up within the president’s 90-day timeframe.
• The estimated additional cost will be $400,000. The total storm debris cleanup cost is estimated between $6-$8 million at this point.
• This amendment will lock in contractors and keep them picking up debris in Columbia County for at least the next 20 days, when things once again will be evaluated with the contractor. Kirby and Foreman both said all counties with storm damage in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina were currently in a bidding war for storm cleanup contractors. There is so much damage across the Southeast, there is more demand then there are cleanup trucks and crews to operate them.

Foreman and Kirby said they will meet with Ceres officials again before the Nov. 20 deadline and examine the current state of the cleanup, how much debris has been picked up and where the county is with how much is remaining on roadsides. Then it will determine the state of the contractor market and how the incentive contract is working for all parties and decide a direction.

In other action at the emergency meeting Thursday, commissioners set a deadline of sundown on Sunday, Nov. 17, as the last moment to place organic storm debris along roadsides for county crews and contractors to pick up.

The vote to set the Nov. 17 deadline was 4-1, with Commissioner Everett Phillips voting against the deadline. Phillips said residents had not had enough time to haul their fallen limbs and brush to the roadsides from the Sept. 27 Hurricane Helene and needed more time than seven weeks.