Natural resources treated like trash in Northwest Arkansas: Tree limbs and Canada geese

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Canada geese.

The Morning News
Board To Discuss Geese

By THE MORNING NEWS
The Bella Vista Property Owners Association board will revisit the topic of Canada geese Thursday.
The association's general manager will explain GeesePeace's report, Chairwoman Roberta Dale said. The nonprofit visited Bella Vista and provided suggestions for controlling the goose population.
GeesePeace's suggestions include chasing the geese with a border collie, oiling eggs and using handheld lasers.
The general manager will tell the board the administration's recommendation, Dale said. She wasn't sure whether the board would vote.
The board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Country Club's board meeting room, 98 Clubhouse Drive.


The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Springdale Contract Cleanup Begins

By Steve Caraway
THE MORNING NEWS
SPRINGDALE -- City residents need to have their tree limbs ready for a storm debris cleanup which starts today.
Storm Construction Services of Mobile, Ala., will have 50 trucks hauling debris, in all four sections of the city, according to David Crump, company spokesman. The company aims to move from 10,000 to 15,000 cubic yards of debris each day, Crump said. Most of the debris piles look good for pickup, Crump said, but some might need to be relocated for the company to collect.
"Don't panic if we don't get all of your debris the first sweep," Crump said. "We'll be going through the city three times. We'll get it the second or third sweep."
Storm Construction Services earned the right to collect debris, haul it to be chipped or burned and then dispose of the remains. The company bid $3.44 per cubic yard for debris removal and $4.28 per cubic yard to chip and dispose of the debris. Burning instead of chipping would drop the cost 50 cents per cubic yard.
The contract runs for 60 days. The estimated cost for the cleanup of a projected 300,000 cubic yards of debris was $1.86 million.
"The first sweep should take about three weeks, the second two weeks and the third one," Crump said. "That would give us about 15 days to work on any special problems and clean the city drainage areas."
Storm Construction and Beck Disaster Recovery of Olathe, Kan., listed factors that would slow the removal of debris. Beck Disaster Recovery bid $296,591 to monitor the cleanup. Monitoring and documentation is required for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement for 75 percent of the cost. The state and the city would split the remaining 25 percent of the cost.
Only vegetative debris is eligible for cleanup, said Danny Simpson of Beck Recovery, including limbs, tree trunks and broken shrubbery.
The city must keep other types of debris separated from the vegetation to remain eligible for FEMA reimbursement, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.
"We can't mix in broken boards from a fence, or lattice or a sofa," Sprouse said.
The FEMA eligible debris must be stacked in the street right of way to be removed. It cannot be stacked next to utility poles or boxes, gas or water meters, fire hydrants and low-hanging wires. The debris needs to be away from fences.
"If we can't move the debris, we'll leave a notice asking the pile to be moved," Simpson said. "We'll get the debris on the next sweep."
Storm Construction cannot go onto private property to remove debris, Crump said. Piles of debris along driveways or in parking lots need to be moved to be eligible for pickup.
Storm Construction also will cut down any branches hanging from trees over the right of way. Deciding which branches could land in the right of way is a judgment call to be made by Beck Recovery, the monitoring company, Crump said.
"You need to make sure all the debris is eligible for FEMA reimbursement," Crump said. "You don't want any surprise at the end of the job."
At A Glance
Counties Eligible For Federal Aid
Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Conway Craighead, Crawford, Cross, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Newton, Poinset, Randolph, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren and Washington.
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency