City council reviews storm's fallout

City crews continued to pick up limbs and debris from the late-January ice storm this week. This crew was shown gathering limbs along West Clay Street Tuesday morning. (Times photo/Tim Blair) [Click to enlarge]

The recent ice storm and its impact on the city was the main topic of discussion at Monday night's Piggott city council meeting. The council heard updates from the various city departments, reviewed how the city reacted to the emergency and talked about the high cost of the ice storm.

"All-in-all, everyone put forth a good effort," city distribution supervisor Bruce Swan noted. "I was proud to be a part of it."

With Alderman Jim Poole absent, the regular meeting of the council was opened by Mayor Gerald Morris. Also on hand were city clerk Ramona Magee, city attorney John Lingle and various department heads.

After dispensing with the usual business matters, the council turned its attention to the ice storm and heard updates from the water, street and electric departments.

"We were somewhat prepared for a short-term outage, but we found out that the two generators we have are just not enough to move around over the long-term," water superintendent Bradley Scheffler noted. Scheffler said the generator at the water tower was perfectly adequate, but noted the secondary generator had to be moved between two locations to keep both the pumping station and water treatment plant operating. After several days a third generator was brought in on loan from Smackover.

"We had a few problems, but I know everyone was glad to have running water and sewer," he surmised.

Street department superintendent Gary Chronister noted the collection of debris is ongoing, and in his words, "we'll be picking up brush all summer." He indicated his crews have been hauling 130 to 135 loads a day, six days a week, for the last two weeks and are just now completing their first full sweep of the city.

He noted an official with the Corp of Engineers estimated the city's debris at 50,658 cubic yards, but said that number may be a bit low.

David Finley gave a rundown on the operations of the city's power plant during the ice storm and noted the equipment held up well. He indicated that early-on there was a problem with a coupling on one of the cooling towers and that a new piece had to be delivered by courier from Olathe, Kan.

"From Feb. 8 through Feb. 14, we ran 24/7 without a problem," he added. Finley also noted the power plant operators became more adept as the emergency continued. "We were knocked off five times by the wind and got to the point where we could get it back on from dark in eight minutes."

Finley also broke down the costs, noting that by the end of the outage that the power plant was generating 13 kilowatts per gallon of fuel. He added the plant also used the fuel they had on hand, which had been purchased at a much higher price, and was able to take advantage of reduced prices to restock the supply.

"I just want to thank the city fathers," he said. "What they did back in 1999 and 2000 concerning the power plant made this possible."

"This was the worse I've seen in the 29 years of my experience," Swan told the council in summarizing the ice storm. Swan went on to give a timeline of the storm and the electric department's response over the first two days of the weather event.

"We had to hire contract crews from San Antonio and Dallas and got tree trimmers from Louisiana and Alabama," he noted. Swan added that, as of this week, one line crew and one tree trimming crew remained and said he'd like to keep them on for the time being to assist the city crews.

Swan noted that 70-75 new poles have been set in the city and said that number will likely rise. He also applauded the way the community pulled together, saying, "Thanks to all the local volunteers, people with tractors and everyone who helped. We had great cooperation."

Jamie Cluck gave a final report on the emergency shelter and noted that things went well.

"All things considered, it was a great success. The people were great and we had all the help we needed," she noted. "I just can't say enough about the way everyone pulled together, the volunteers and the people in the shelter."

The Council then discussed the cost of the ice storm and heard that a FEMA representative has been assigned to the case. Currently the city is facing about $500,000 in ice storm associated costs, and the estimated costs for outside labor is expected to climb to around $450,000. A meeting with FEMA is expected to be held later this week and at that time local leaders will have a better idea of how much of the money will be recouped.

The council applauded the city workers for their response to the emergency and noted that many of them made sacrifices at the expense of their families. They also commended the various volunteers and the community in general, for their response to the situation, noting that everyone showed a great deal of patience and cooperation despite the hardship.

Morris wrapped up the discussion by reading several letters written by fourth graders at PES thanking city workers for their response to the ice storm and in getting power restored.

In other business the council

* approved the monthly attorney bills.

* approved an ordinance allowing city officials to do business with Magee Auction.

* voted to allow the payment of $1,785 for the clean-up of a diesel spill.

* accepted low bids for the street department for asphalt, concrete and sand and gravel.

* authorized the sale of a 2001 Ford former police cruiser at the upcoming FFA auction.

* waived the building permit fee for an aluminum canopy at the First Christian Church.