St. Charles City to Set Date for Vegetation Debris Removal

At Tuesday night's St. Charles City Council meeting, Council member Laurie Feldman asked for help for her ward, which was hit hard by Friday's severe storms.

"Every subdivision in my ward was hit pretty hard by this event," Feldman said. "Over 20 homes are uninhabitable." 

Feldman said that even though insurance would cover much of the damage to structures, for many residents insurance would not cover damage to trees.

"These people have no way to get rid of this without additional cost," she said. 

Feldman said she would like the city to offer one day of "vegetation removal" to residents of the entire city. "My ward was probably not the only place affected," she said.

Feldman said that she had received 31 calls and 17 emails from individuals who requested help with the removal of storm debris.

Council member Jerry Reese said, "It blows my mind that we're even talking about this. The city administrator and the mayor should say, this is just something that we're going to do."

"It's a no-brainer, go do it and get it done and not spend two hours talking about it," Reese said.

The question arose as to whether the County Executive's or Governor's declaration of a state of emergency would help with reimbursement of debris removal costs.

City Administrator Michael Spurgeon said that those declarations were meant to clear the way for a possible federal declaration, but without that, no federal funds would be available. 

Feldman said that people were out there still hauling stuff to the curb. "Residents are doing it themselves," she said. She made a motion to the board for the mayor and city administration to come up with a plan, with a pickup date identified no longer than two weeks away. 

The board voted unanimously in favor of Feldman's motion.

Mayor Sally Faith said that there would be only one pickup, and that some time would be needed to get the information out to residents via robocall or postcard.