Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Area Clean-Up On Hold - For Now

Until the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) decides what it's going to do, cleanup in Clark County is on hold.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said he and his staff have met five times with FEMA and have been told the same thing each time. So far, though, nothing has been done.

Currently, FEMA will be picking up 90 percent of the cleanup costs, with the city and county responsible for the remaining 10 percent.

Smith said what has been done in Gurdon so far is all that will be done until FEMA reaches a firm decision and some money comes in to help.

If the city crews do the work, Smith said, it will cost about $50,000. However, if the job is contracted out, the price tag will be more along the lines of $200,000.

Should the city do the cleanup work, he added, extra personnel will have to be hired to help out.

Clark County Judge Floyd Buddy' Manning echoed Smith's statements in it being a hurry up and wait situation.

"We're in the planning stages," he said of the cleanup work, "and are trying to keep the roads passable."

County road crews have been working to keep the roads from being washed out and impassable by hauling rock to the affected areas and putting it in holes.

Manning said the county would most likely have to bid out the cleanup work so crews can concentrate on the road situation.

The freezing and thawing, he said, haven't done them any good. "We need a hard packing rain. Now the roads are soaked and turning into mush."

Once the weather stabilizes, somewhat, county road crews will haul in red clay gravel to try to save the roads.

Manning said the paving program has been put on hold for now and could be canceled for the year because of the storm damage.

There are approximately 400 miles of gravel roads in Clark County, and all need to be worked on in some fashion because of damage from the ice storm.

"I haven't had time to look at what this will cost," he said. "I'm hoping FEMA will help us out with the roads."

When asked if some of the certificates of deposit the road and bridge department has will be cashed in to help with the repair costs, Manning said he didn't know.

Now, though, with the almost constant rain of late, the problem has turned from freezing and thawing damage to flooding damage.

Manning said the county lost one bridge from the ice storm on the Antoine bridge road, and crews removed debris from another bridge. The crews, he added, haven't told him of any new problems because of the rain as of yet.