Public Works Budget Limit Extended by $30,000 for Storm Cleanup

University Park's public works department is working to get the town cleaned up after the , and costs continue to add up.

, Mickey Beall, director of the Department of Public Works, informed council members that he could likely spend his entire year’s budget in just one month of storm cleanup. 

“The issue is the volume, the sheer number of trees that we have impacted,” Beall said. “There are probably 50 trees that will be complete losses and have to be removed as a result of the storm.”

Due to the large amount of tree damage the town experienced, Beall said his department would definitely surpass the $10,000 monthly limit and likely spend over $30,000, solely on storm cleanup efforts.

The council voted in approval of bypassing the regular 90-day bid process to waive the $10,000 limit for purposes of the storm cleanup, for up to 60 days and $40,000. 

“It’s incumbent upon the council to realize when those procedures get in the way of getting the town cleaned up,” Councilmember Len Carey said, referring to the three-month bid process normally required of this type of situation.

Carey says that he would rather have discussed the issue earlier in the meeting to allow more time for deliberation but added that being part of the council means being able to quickly respond to and address the town’s needs.

In addition, he says that in situations like the recent storm, the town expects the public works department to be responsive and would not put bureaucratic barriers in the way of that. 

Beall called the council’s decision “very reasonable”, adding that it’s very likely he will need to use the entire $40,000 over the next month, solely on tree removal and cleanup.

Mayor John Tabori said the council had to take into consideration the direct costs of bringing in specialized tree crews to remove and trim trees efficiently, as well as a series of indirect costs, including tipping fees, overtime and fuel costs.

However, he said the town has sufficient reserves to handle the extra costs, though it may affect future budgets. 

“The issue is that at a certain point it’s going to start to harm the budget beyond what we can easily recover from, but we have not reached that point yet and could probably tolerate another storm of this magnitude,” Tabori said, adding, “We may have to adjust we can do over the next five years.” 

At this point, Beall says his department is about 85 percent done clearing the streets of storm debris and will begin to focus efforts on the park, which saw severe damage, by next week. 

“We’re going to be cleaning up for quite a while,” Carey said. “The town park is a shambles from trees blowing over and branches lost, and we’ve only just begun to get to that part.”

Beall says he is hopeful cleanup will be completely done by the end of the month.