The Morning News reports that Faytteville selects contractors to pick up limbs and another to document the work

"The debris hauling and chipping job is expected to take 120 days." How long will FEMA's check take to arrive to reimburse the city?
Will the chips work for firewood?
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The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Cleanup Bids Come In At Least $1 Million Under Estimates

By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- Contract cleanup crews will begin combing through Fayetteville in no more than 48 hours.

In a special-called meeting Wednesday night, the Fayetteville City Council released up to $4 million for debris removal and cleanup after the record January ice storm. Three million dollars will come from an emergency disaster fund. And the council granted the mayor authority to pull another $1 million from the general fund, should he need it.

Most of the cleanup cost will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state government. The city's share will be roughly $500,000, said Paul Becker finance director for Fayetteville.

This amount came in substantially less than the $5 million to $10 million estimate previously released.

"I think we got real competitive in our bidding," said Don Marr, chief of staff for Mayor Lioneld Jordan, and who served on the review and selection committee. "I'm just glad we're at the stage of starting work."

DRC Emergency Services, of Mobile, Ala., was awarded the pickup and removal contract at $4.21 per cubic yard, an amount the city felt proud of.

"We're looking at $3 less than Springdale right now," Jordan said. The debris hauling and chipping job is expected to take 120 days.

After reviewing 18 proposals based on criteria like qualifications, references, past performance and price, the list was narrowed to five. DRC was incidentally the low bid.

Solid Resources Inc. of Sarasota, Fla., will handle the review and monitoring portion of the cleanup.

"This was a very tough choice," Marr said, noting eight bids came in for this job. But Solid Resources was the firm charged with a similar monitoring role during a Tulsa, Okla., ice storm several years ago, Marr said, and is also the firm hired by Rogers.

However, even with the contractors in place, city officials say they plan to remain active observers and reviewers of the process.

"We're not just washing our hands now that these projects have been laid out. The city will still have an active role in the oversight of this process," Marr said. "We still very much have skin in the game, as they say."

AT A GLANCE

Fayetteville Ice Storm Cleanup Contractors

Solid Resources Inc. -- $483,690

DRC Emergency Services -- $2,419,185

Source: Staff Report