City also hires Alabama company to help with this cleanup and others in the future
Residents who need help cleaning up debris from the early-January winter storm will have till 8 p.m. Friday to call in to the Crisis Cleanup Hotline to request free assistance.
That number is 270-887-4657.
The service, which is being coordinated by the United Way of Henderson County, connects volunteers to residents who need help.
The hotline opened two weeks ago, and so far 110 calls have been received and 79 cases have been opened, according to UW Executive Director Kelsi Dunham. The estimated cost savings to local residents is estimated at $202,700, she said.
The work that volunteers conduct include cutting branches and limbs and pulling them to the curb for city residents. For county residents, volunteers cut branches and limbs and get them stacked into piles for burning or load them into trucks or trailers for hauling, said Dunham.
Thus far, the volunteers that have done the work are a part of the Kentucky Disaster Relief with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, which is scheduled to work through Friday but will likely extend their time in Henderson into next week.
Additionally, Christian Aid Ministries will soon come to town to assist the cleanup. Dunham said the timeline for the organization’s arrival has not been firmed up yet.
She also said that the goal to finish the work for county residents is March 3, while the goal for city residents is Feb. 10.
A week later, the city of Henderson will begin its pickup of stacks of debris that have been pulled to the curb, said City Manager Buzzy Newman.
The initial round of cleaning will be conducted by CrowderGulf LLC, a Mobile, Alabama, company that specializes in “debris collection, disposal and other services in the event of a natural or manmade disaster,” according to a memo from Newman to the commission. The initial cost will be $250,000, he said. The city commission approved the contract at Tuesday’s meeting.
After the initial work, the company will be able to be quickly hired in the future event of another disaster—in some sense, a retainer—said Mayor Brad Staton.
Newman also wrote in the memo, “The recent ice event demonstrates the need for these types of pre-agreement services for any type of disaster.”
The current contract comes as Henderson—and Kentucky—waits to see if a presidential disaster declaration for the damage incurred in the winter storm will be made by the federal government, said Newman.
“Should we not get the declaration, we have to be prepared to take care of our community out of our own pocket,” Newman said.
After CrowderGulf makes the first go-round on cleanup and takes care of the large debris and other big issues, city public works employees will make follow-up runs to ensure all is cleaned up, Newman said.
He said the goal is have all the debris cleaned up by March.
