Flood debris clean-up stymied by property owners

Oct. 5—While cleanup of debris still clogging the Pigeon River in the Cruso area from the flooding two years ago is finally about to proceed, it turns out some debris won't be touched.

That's because a number of landowners have refused to allow access to their property. Whether to allow contractors on their land is their right, however, explained Mark Cathey, vice president for McGill Associates, the engineering firm contracted to oversee the debris removal.

"We tried to get 100% participation, but couldn't," Cathey told county commissioners at a meeting this week.

Commissioners asked whether the landowners refusing access to the stream from their property knew what was at stake.

"I think they understand," Cathey said. "We've tried multiple times and ways, but they still don't want to sign."

Commissioners Brandon Rogers and Tommy Long even tried talking to the landowners.

Commissioners awarded flood debris contacts totaling more than $800,000 to numerous locations this week, which the county will be reimbursed for the work as long as it is carried out in compliance with federal rules. However, if property owners deny access to some of areas, then that portion of the funding would be deducted from the work.

Only four of the debris removal sites have 100% owner participation, while several others have signed consents by the landowners. One group had as low as 60% participation.

Commissioner asked whether contractors could travel up and down the river itself to snag the debris instead of crossing private property.

"That would depend on the type of equipment they had," Cathey said. "That's iffy, but we could certainly try with right contractor to see if that's an option."

Commissioners questioned whether non-consenting landowners could be held liable in future flooding events.

"I guess what we don't clean out now, we'll clean out later," Commission Chairman Kevin Ensley said wryly in reference to it landing by a bridge or another obstacle downstream after the next flood.

Cathey said the successful bidders will be notified of the award, and then contracts will need to be signed by the company and county manager.

Depending on the project size, there is a 60-120 day period for the work to be completed.

"I fully expect we'll be seeing equipment on the ground within two weeks," Cathey said.

No Haywood contracts

The commissioners divided the stream clean up work into eight smaller contacts rather than one large contract, in hopes that local contractors would have a better chance of landing the work.

While there were several in-county bidders, none succeeded in landing contracts, as most failed to provide a bid bond, which was a requirement.

"We would have loved to take their bid, but they didn't file the proper paperwork," said Ensley.

The extra steps to break the work into smaller packages to keep the federal dollars in the county delayed the process somewhat, he said. In the end "we still didn't accomplish what we wanted," he added.

Rogers pointed out that several of the bids from Haywood contractors were lower.

"There are certain things that have to be provided. All needed to have a bid bond, and there were multiple issues with the format of the bid. Unfortunately because when a local contractor loses out, so do we because we could get it a little cheaper."

Why the delay?

Work clearing out the streams is set to start as soon as next week.

Commissioner Tommy Long noted it has been more than two years since floods from Tropical Storm Fred hit Haywood, and asked why it was taking so long to get the debris out of the stream — something that would lessen the damage should another flood hit.

"We're 26 months removed from the event and just now getting started? What has been the holdup? Is this typical?" he asked. "I personally don't think it's acceptable. If we're not performing on an average level, we need to up our game. We're not showing a good side here."

The process is complicated, said Cathey, with each of the federal and state agencies involved needing time to properly do the required work.

"I don't know what we would have done to make it any quicker. There's a critical path that if don't follow it, you won't be reimbursed," he said.

Shortly after the flood, damage survey reports were prepared and turned into the funding agencies. Then there was a procurement process for the county to get reimbursed.

A flood in May 2022 was a serious blow because debris shifted and the survey process had to start over. The process to secure landowner authorization took time, as well.

McGill and Associates was chosen as the project engineer in January. The next step was to advertise for and analyze the bid documents, most of which were due by the end of August. Those bids were the ones approved at the October meeting.

"It's slower than it was in 2005," said Cathey, whose company was part of the debris cleanup following back-to-back floods in Haywood in 2004. "The funding requirements and the permitting have changed a lot. Then we went to the property owners. They have their opportunity to look at the project, and we met with some resistance, which was another holdup."

The work now under contract is only part of the needed cleanup because some of the larger, more complicated sites require advanced engineering, something that will happen in Phase 2 of the process. That will be even more complicated because of extra steps that need to be taken to protect endangered species, including the elktoe mussels and the long-ear bat.

Cathey said the Phase 2 projects will be bid toward the end of the year so places where there are concerns about long-ear bats can be wrapped up before the March to October period where there's a moratorium on habitat disturbance. Sites that can't be completed in that period will be permitted in a way where work can still continue, Cathey added.

The majority of the contracts went to Southern Disaster Recovery out of Greenville, South Carolina, which was the low bidder on six of the eight contracts. Other low bidders included Rock Creek Grading of Burnsville, which landed a $157,380 contract, and Grillot Construction, LLC of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, which was low bidder at $64,365 on another contract.