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Claremore staff outline debris-removal progress, warn federal reimbursements remain uncertain
Summary
City staff reported completion of a second pass of storm debris removal, urged residents to place remaining debris at the right-of-way by Sept. 4 for a final pass, and described invoice submissions and ongoing FEMA review while cautioning that federal reimbursement timing is uncertain.
City staff told the Claremore City Council that contractor crews have completed an initial pass of storm debris removal and have begun a second pass, and asked residents to place remaining vegetation and construction-and-demolition debris at the right-of-way by Tuesday, Sept. 4 so a final third pass can begin.
“Pass 2 is ongoing,” said a city staff member (name not stated). The staff member said monitoring and FEMA personal-property assessments continue and urged residents to report unreported hazards such as downed utility poles or possible transformers.
The staff member said the city had submitted invoices and was spending quickly on recovery, but warned that federal reimbursement timing depends on congressional appropriations. “FEMA notified Congress last week that the DRF is empty,” the staff member said, adding the city’s claims remain valid but that the pace of federal payments is uncertain.
The staff presentation included several numerical references to spending and invoice totals as spoken in the meeting; portions of those figures appeared garbled in the transcript. The city said it had retrieved “over 150 transformers” and described “several hundred thousand cubic yards” of vegetative debris; it also told council members it had submitted invoices for review. The staff member said the city would continue to work with the consultant and FEMA to pursue reimbursement and that the consultant was handling detailed review of procurement and contract documentation.
The staff member said the next regular council meeting will be held the week of Labor Day and encouraged residents to follow posted schedules for cleanup updates. No formal action was needed for the report.
