Monroe Roark
And you thought that pile of limbs in your yard was big.
Gulfport Public Works Director Tom Nicholls told The Gabber Oct. 20 that his crews, along with local contractors, have currently collected an estimated 3,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris. For now it all sits at the City’s 49th Street South facility, which Nicholls said is a Florida Department of Environmental Protection-approved temporary debris storage site.
It is a massive pile. Anyone who sees it can immediately recognize that it is the size of a large building.
For those of you who enjoy math, an object measuring 3,000 cubic yards that is arranged in a perfect square would be 43 feet tall, 43 feet wide and 43 feet deep. Think of a 2,000-square-foot building that is four stories high.
City Manager Jim O’Reilly said at the Oct. 18 Gulfport City Council meeting, in response to a comment by Vice Mayor Christine Brown regarding possible Federal Emergency Management Agency funds that could help Gulfport, that Pinellas County officials are also working on that issue and the money that comes would be designated for debris removal.
Nicholls said he and his staff are in discussions with the City’s emergency debris management company, Southern Disaster Recovery, on what would be the most cost-effective way to remove and dispose of the debris so that it could qualify for FEMA reimbursement.
“I anticipate entering into an agreement with SDR to have the debris loaded and hauled to Pinellas County Solid Waste for final disposal,” he said.
