City leaders have accepted the sole bid provided by a contractor to remove debris caused by the severe weather that struck Yazoo City earlier this year.
During Monday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the board accepted the only bid from Holliday Construction out of Poplarville.
“We will have to come back for the board to approve a contract too though,” added Board Attorney Lilli Evans-Bass. “We can call a special meeting as soon as we get a contract. The contract will have to be approved before they can start.”
Otha Gilmore, with the city’s public works department, encouraged the city leaders last month to bring in outside assistance to help the public works department. Even with the massive debris, he added that the department still must maintain its normal daily operations.
“All of our guys are stuck on debris, but we still have a city to take care of,” Gilmore said, during the February meeting. “We still need to do potholes, ditches and other things. But right now, we can’t even go to the store without somebody asking us when their streets are going to be cleaned. We are doing everything we can.”
City leaders are eager for Holliday Construction to begin its efforts to remove the debris left from the ice storm, adding that paid contractors leaving debris on the city’s rights-of-way need to stop doing so.
“I am just concerned with the issues of contractors going in, doing work and putting it on the street,” said Alderman Charlie Jenkins. “That is something that is going to have to be looked at very importantly. We don’t want the city to be responsible for contractors coming in and being paid for this kind of work, and the city having to absorb the cost of it.”
Mayor David Starling agreed, adding that it is “extremely unfair” to the city.
“Several streets have been cleaned,” Starling said. “You will go back and see an obvious contractor cutting and putting trees there. It gives the appearance as though public works are not moving, but they are moving.”
The city council also reminded residents not to place household garbage in the debris piles.
