Gallatin officials praise city crews after ice storm; brush removal, shelters and recovery plans outlined

Mayor Paige praised Gallatin’s public works, police, fire and electric crews for rapid response to last week’s ice storm and outlined immediate next steps for recovery. “I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of our city departments. At the top of that list is certainly our public works department,” she said, thanking staff and volunteers for working around the clock to clear roads and restore services.

The mayor said the city will prioritize brush removal this month and suspend regular bulk pickup to focus resources on storm debris collection. She said Mr. DePries had secured a site for residents to drop off brush and warned that cleanup would take time given the scale of damage in Gallatin and surrounding areas.

Mayor Paige credited prior tree‑trimming and interdepartmental coordination for a faster power restoration than nearby jurisdictions. “One of the things that I want to point out…that tree trimming really made a difference for our community,” she said, and noted Gallatin Electric provided frequent outage status updates throughout the recovery.

City Hall briefly served as a shelter in coordination with the Red Cross; the mayor said relatively few people used that site because neighbors, churches and other organizations opened space to help residents. She singled out Gallatin Free Methodist Church for opening a shelter and thanked local businesses that fed crews and volunteers during extended operations.

Officials encouraged residents to use resources posted on the city website — including crisis cleanup and FEMA damage‑reporting portals and SNAP replacement information — while noting that eligibility for federal or state assistance is not guaranteed. The council closed the discussion by thanking staff and volunteers and urging continued public support for neighbors still without power.