Contractors tasked with removing Hurricane Ida debris in McComb have completed the job.
DebrisTech LLC of Picayune submitted four invoices totaling $16,876, which the city board voted to pay last week.
Interim Public Works Director Eric Spurlock said the DebrisTech’s fees added up to $64,868, and Magnolia-based Land Company Development’s bills for mulching and taking debris to the landfill added up to $187,530.
“This time around, the city saved a substantial amount of money,” said City Administrator David Myers said, comparing Ida to a 2021 tornado’s debris removal expense. “The last time it was over $1 million.”
Myers said the public works department efforts to pick up debris shortly after the hurricane saved money.
Neel-Schaffer engineer Garrett Smith is still working with Federal Emergency Management Agency to get the city reimbursed for all costs.
However, Neel-Schaffer still has another bill the city of McComb will have to pay first.
“I think it won’t go over $300,000,” Mayor Quordiniah Lockley said.
“We’re trying to keep that as minimal as possible,” Smith said.
In other business, selectmen:
• Voted 4-2 to pay Mitchco Construction Inc., $131,343 and M3A Architecture $1,181 for work on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center gym. Selectmen Devante Johnson, Donovan Hill, Ronnie Brock and Shawn Williams voted in favor of making the payments. Selectmen Ted Tullos and Michael Cameron opposed.
• Agreed to pay Inframark LLC of Katy, Texas $6,694 for its work managing the wastewater treatment plant.
• Accepted $96,608 in property taxes.
• Made $466,600 in general obligation bond payments to Trustmark National Bank. “This is part of the $3.2 million that this board borrowed to pave the streets of McComb,” Lockley said. Lockley said a previous administration borrowed the money and the financing should be paid off in 2030. Since he has been Mayor, Lockley said the city borrowed another $3.2 million to pave streets. “All our streets are still not paved after $6.4 million,” he said.
• Made a $8,546 payment for a general obligation bond that was issued in 2006.
