Contractors raise prices for hurricane debris removal in Seminole

SEMINOLE — The City Council on Oct. 22 authorized an amendment to the agreement with Pinellas County and a participant agreement with AshBritt Inc. for disaster debris collection and removal.

The city hopes that it will help to clean up the storm debris in 90 days.

At the same time, the city will be paying more to the contractors who have raised their prices for debris collection after the recent hurricanes. Whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimburses the increased costs remains to be seen.

"What has happened is contractors have approached the entities for whom they work and wanted to be paid more money," City Manager Ann Toney-Deal said. "And FEMA is not giving opinions on what we can and cannot do."

She estimated that the total cost of debris collection might amount to $450,000-$500,000. At the same time, Toney-Deal stressed that if the city refuses to raise the pay, the debris will not be collected in the 90-day period, which is mandated by FEMA as a timeline for 100% reimbursement.

The fees were increased from $9 per cubic yard of vegetation and $9.50 per cubic yard of construction debris to $14.98 and $18, respectively. Toney-Deal said they are hoping the city would be able to show FEMA that the community was judicious with the funds because many local communities are in the same position.

Seminole Public Works Director Rodney Due said that amending the interlocal agreement is possible due to the debris collection site position, which allows Seminole to skip the debris management site and overpaying $14.

Other options are to put collection out to bid or to sue the contractors. Toney-Deal said the city will yield that same price if bidding, but the city will lose its place in line for debris collection and will then be looking at 12 to 18 months for debris collection.

City Attorney Jay Daigneault said even though he would be happy to sue the contractors on the city's behalf, it would still not help Seminole.

"You know what's going to happen in the meantime?" Daigneault said. "The debris is going to sit where it is at present."

Oakdale Terrace and Grove Terrace flooding and drainage Residents of Oakdale Terrace and Grove Terrace addressed the council again on the issue of flooding in their neighborhoods. Council member Trish Springer said she and her neighbors want 21st-century drainage, not the swales from the 1940s and 1950s.

"We are supposed to be classy, not trashy," Springer said.

Resident Harry Berg said he moved to Seminole because his house on Grove Terrace is 26 feet above sea level, but it was still flooded in the last storm. Glenn Canon said that damage to his house that he has lived in for 47 years could be tens of thousands of dollars.

"There will be another terrible rain, and there will be another terrible flooding, and I can't afford it," Canon said.

Toney-Deal said that reconstruction of drainage on Oakdale and Grove Terraces is already included in the Seminole Stormwater Master Plan recently approved by the council. The work, according to the plan, is scheduled to begin after the rainy season.

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