The vast storm cleanup shocks Tarpon officials, who vow the job will get done at any price.
By NORA KOCH
Published September 15, 2004
TARPON SPRINGS - They had planned to make a daylong sweep through the city neighborhoods, picking up piles of debris left in the wake of Frances.
But by the end of Sunday, the city-contracted, 17-truck team had tackled just a slice of the load, which was about four times the size Tarpon Springs officials had expected.
And with that surprise deluge of yard waste, followed by a storm of complaints from residents, city officials are scrambling to get the city cleaned up by Monday, a week later than expected.
Pinellas County officials also say they have stepped up efforts to clear yard and tree debris in areas the county serves and have set up four temporary dropoff sites for debris.
In North Pinellas, residents can bring storm debris to the southeast corner of Keystone Road and East Lake Road, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. By Tuesday afternoon, several piles of brush and debris at the Keystone site had grown to the size of houses.
In Tarpon Springs, initial estimates put the total of the city's storm debris at about 5,000 cubic yards, said public services director Juan Cruz. But when trucks went out Sunday to pick up the piles from city curbs, the debris totalled as much as 20,000 cubic yards.
By the end of Sunday, the contractor was only able to collect a quarter of the debris residents had placed curbside.
On Monday, City Hall and elected officials were bombarded with phone calls from residents wondering why their streets were still lined with storm waste.
Mayor Beverley Billiris, who fielded a wave of phone calls, said the city is working as fast as possible to clear out the yard waste.
"There is just an enormous amount of debris," Billiris said. "Some houses have so much that it would take Waste Management five hours just to handle one load from one house."
The original estimate was made by city workers last Tuesday, and the contractor agreed with that measure. Somehow, the amount of debris nearly quadrupled in a few days.
When notice went out about the free yard waste pickup, residents must have seized the opportunity to trim trees and clean yards even if it wasn't for storm-related debris, Billiris said. Some might also have decided to trim trees that could have been threatened by Hurricane Ivan.
"People took advantage and really cleaned out their yards," Billiris said. "We have to thank our residents for doing exactly as we asked them to do."
That built up the amount of debris waiting to be picked up Sunday morning.
Waste Management, the contractor the city selected for the pickup, did not return a phone call on Tuesday.
But Cruz said the company leased the city five trucks with drivers to use this week and has said it will be back in force on Tarpon's streets this Sunday.
Every usable city vehicle is out on the streets picking up waste, Cruz said, and city workers have been pulled from various departments and unrelated jobs to help.
And much of the debris lining the streets isn't light stuff, Cruz said.
Pinellas County will clear some of the roads in Tarpon Springs, Cruz said.
So far the city hasn't put a price tag on the cleanup, though Cruz said he initially asked the City Commission for $80,000.
"We're going to spend whatever we need to spend to get the city clean," he said.
