Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County Begins It Cleaning

TAG Grinding of Palmetto, Ga., has the contract to clean the debris from Clark County roads.

According to Clark County Judge Floyd "Buddy" Manning, the company was awarded the contract Tuesday, Jan. 30, and began moving in men and equipment to do the job.

The contract was let at $7.74 per cubic yard, and must be completed by Feb. 27.

None of the debris will be burned, Manning said, but it will all be ground into chips.

Because of the time constraints set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), there was little time to solicit bids. Manning said 10 bids were submitted, and the specifications required them to be bid on the cubic yard.

While TAG wasn't the low bidder, those who had lower bids didn't have complete bid packages submitted. TAG did and was awarded the bid.

"They feel they can do it in this time," Manning said. "They have as many men as necessary to do the job."

According to Manning, TAG will have approximately 70 men working at one time.

The county was divided into zones with the work to be done accordingly. Each and every county road will be cleared by TAG, with the company also required to trim damaged limbs and trees.

Manning said county crews will clean up federal and state aid roads, having already started on them.

The rush to get the job done by Feb. 27, is because this is the deadline FEMA set as when it will no longer provide 90-10 matching funds. Under this formula, FEMA will pay 90 percent of the clean up costs, with the state paying 5 percent and county paying 5 percent. The county's part can be with in-kind labor and/or equipment.

After Feb. 27, the formula reverts back to the original 75-25 proposal. Under this, FEMA would pay 75 percent with the state picking up the tab for 12.5 percent and the county paying for the rest.