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Bellaire looking at $1m cleanup bill
By CHARLOTTE AGUILAR
Bellaire’s debris cleanup bills are expected to reach a million dollars, officials reported Monday night — but up to three-fourths of that could be reimbursed by FEMA.
Mayor Cindy Siegel and City Manager Bernie Satterwhite updated City Council on Hurricane Ike recovery — a preliminary assessment, they emphasized, with a full report likely at the Oct. 20 meeting.
“Can we learn from this and can we move forward? Absolutely,” Satterwhite said.
Siegel said Monday was “not the night for should-haves and could-haves.”
Thirty-nine Bellaire households remained without power as of 4 p.m. Monday, they said — and all customers are expected to be restored by the end of the day Wednesday.
Wednesday is also the target day for the first pass of vegetation debris pickup to be completed citywide by contract crews, Satterwhite said. The northeast and southwest quadrants were 100 percent completed, with the southeast corner 60 completed by Monday and the northeast barely touched at 2 percent, he said.
The second pass of debris removal will include construction materials and large diameter tree parts, and should be completed by Oct. 5-6, according to Satterwhite.
The third pass will pick up remaining vegetation, with an Oct. 10 target completion date.
Satterwhite said that residents should not expect debris collection to leave the streets “spic and span,” and that they should be prepared to pick up remaining scraps.
He also said it has become evident to city staff that some residents are unable to remove debris cut by CenterPoint crews from their back yards and that the city is investigating whether a community volunteer effort — possibly using Scout troops — could be organized to get all debris to the curb.
The city’s parks and recreation facilities — particularly the Recreation Center, which may need a new roof and floor — were hard hit.
Satterwhite said a remediation company is still “trying to save our gym floor,” and that after two weeks without power, the Family Aquatics Center still isn’t ready to open.
Still, he said, all damaged facilities are insured.
Other positives, Satterwhite said, were a low crime rate during the post-hurricane curfew, and the role the city’s library played in providing Internet services, electrical charging for cellphones and a place to hang out.
“She gave our citizens a place to go communicate,” said the cit manager of Head Librarian Mary Alford. “Getting that back up was integral to our recovery.”
He said powering up the library would likely be given a priority in the city’s future recovery plannning.
Alford had indicated that the library had 1,875 visitors in its first four days of operation after the hurricane, Sept. 16-19.
Mayor Cindy Siegel and City Manager Bernie Satterwhite updated City Council on Hurricane Ike recovery — a preliminary assessment, they emphasized, with a full report likely at the Oct. 20 meeting.
“Can we learn from this and can we move forward? Absolutely,” Satterwhite said.
Siegel said Monday was “not the night for should-haves and could-haves.”
Thirty-nine Bellaire households remained without power as of 4 p.m. Monday, they said — and all customers are expected to be restored by the end of the day Wednesday.
Wednesday is also the target day for the first pass of vegetation debris pickup to be completed citywide by contract crews, Satterwhite said. The northeast and southwest quadrants were 100 percent completed, with the southeast corner 60 completed by Monday and the northeast barely touched at 2 percent, he said.
The second pass of debris removal will include construction materials and large diameter tree parts, and should be completed by Oct. 5-6, according to Satterwhite.
The third pass will pick up remaining vegetation, with an Oct. 10 target completion date.
Satterwhite said that residents should not expect debris collection to leave the streets “spic and span,” and that they should be prepared to pick up remaining scraps.
He also said it has become evident to city staff that some residents are unable to remove debris cut by CenterPoint crews from their back yards and that the city is investigating whether a community volunteer effort — possibly using Scout troops — could be organized to get all debris to the curb.
The city’s parks and recreation facilities — particularly the Recreation Center, which may need a new roof and floor — were hard hit.
Satterwhite said a remediation company is still “trying to save our gym floor,” and that after two weeks without power, the Family Aquatics Center still isn’t ready to open.
Still, he said, all damaged facilities are insured.
Other positives, Satterwhite said, were a low crime rate during the post-hurricane curfew, and the role the city’s library played in providing Internet services, electrical charging for cellphones and a place to hang out.
“She gave our citizens a place to go communicate,” said the cit manager of Head Librarian Mary Alford. “Getting that back up was integral to our recovery.”
He said powering up the library would likely be given a priority in the city’s future recovery plannning.
Alford had indicated that the library had 1,875 visitors in its first four days of operation after the hurricane, Sept. 16-19.
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vdingesbennett wrote on Oct 2, 2008 10:26 PM: