With hurricane season looming, Escambia still hashing out who will pick up storm debris

Escambia County is taking a closer look at its debris hauling contracts as the clock is ticking closer to the 2022 hurricane season.

County commissioners rejected a list of potential debris removal contractors on Thursday in a 3-1 vote and now seek a new list of contractors after questions arose over the procurement process for the contract.

Typically, the county has contracts in place with multiple contractors for debris hauling after an emergency like a hurricane.

If a storm occurs, contractors on the list are contacted by the county administrator to begin debris removal.

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The list up for approval Thursday had 10 companies that would be the county's debris removal contractors for a three-year period. The contractors have to meet requirements set by both the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency because FEMA will reimburse the county for debris removal during a declared emergency.

One company, Chambers Construction out of Louisiana, was not on the list and hired Pensacola attorney Jeremy Branning to object to the approval of the list Thursday night.

Branning told the commissioners that Chambers Construction had been on the county's previous year's list of contractors and although nothing about the listed qualifications or the company had changed, the county had deemed the company unqualified to be included on the list Thursday.

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While not speaking directly about Chambers Construction's issue, other commissioners agreed they weren't happy with the procurement process used to develop the final list.

Commission Chairman Jeff Bergosh suggested the commission resolicit the contracts and bring it back to the County Commission as soon as possible.

"I want to get this right, and I'm not necessarily convinced that doing it this way was getting it right," Bergosh said.

Bergosh said after Hurricane Sally, only three companies on the approved list were awarded contracts and the other companies were "boxed out" by not getting the contract.

Commissioners Steven Barry and Lumon May agreed with Bergosh's assessment

Barry said the county's procurement office software had many problems in contacting potential vendors, and it didn't give him confidence that all potential bidders were contacted about the contract.

Commissioner Robert Bender was the lone no vote against delaying the contracts among the four commissioners in the room because he was concerned about the approaching hurricane season, which begins June 1.

"I wouldn't want to get caught with my pants down," Bender said. "If there's a way, I think last year we did a one-year agreement instead of what had been proposed. I'm just saying, we've had June storms before."

Interim County Administrator Wes Moreno told the commission he would resolicit the contract as quickly as possible while still meeting all the FEMA requirements as well as the county's requirements.

Moreno said the county is still waiting to be reimbursed $44 million from debris hauling in Hurricane Sally.

"They're (FEMA) doing a review and audit basically of all our documentation," Moreno said. "And that's why it's so important for our debris haulers to be able to do that documentation because it's going to get scrutinized to the nth degree. They're going to audit it. We had our documentation on point after Sally and we're still waiting for approval from FEMA."

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County revamps debris removal contracts for hurricane season