Contractors Begin Second Pass At Oklahoma Ice Storm Cleanup

Dec. 30—ENID, Okla. — Contractors began a second pass through Enid on Tuesday to pick up more tree debris from October's ice storm, after having already collected more than 4,000 tons before Christmas.

Two trucks from TFR Enterprises, last in Enid on Dec. 22, will pick up debris through areas mainly south of Garriott and east of Van Buren, and from South 3rd to 5th, Public Utilities Director David Hunter said Tuesday.

Hunter said another truck will be added Wednesday and that the city is working to add a fourth by Friday.

"We've had situations where we've done a pass and (residents have) brought out more, like they'll have some in their front yard and then their backyard, but I'd usually say we're at 80% or greater of the city has been picked up," Hunter said.

The city landfill, which Assistant City Manager Scott Morris said has collected 4,245 tons of tree limbs since work began in November, will be closed Friday for New Year's Day. The landfill's grinder will begin running in the next few days, and the city will rent a second, Hunter said.

TFR is expected to leave Enid in a week or two, after which the city will begin using only its trucks for cleanup, Morris said.

Many of the requests for pickup have come through the website SeeClickFix, the city of Enid's service request system, which connects to the city's map viewer system, Cartograph. City staff then relay these requests to contractors out collecting debris piles.

As of Monday, the city of Enid had this year received 1,890 requests for tree debris pickup through its SeeClickFix app, compared with five total in 2019. A separate "tree debris" category was requested 198 times this year on the service, compared with 11 last year.

Both request categories can be almost entirely attributed to the ice storm cleanup, Hunter said.

Beginning about a week after the ice storm, Kansas-based contractor Brown's Tree Service initially picked up nearly 42,000 cubic yards of brush in Enid. It and another contractor from Enid worked for less than two weeks before the city stopped them to ensure they followed FEMA's competitive proposal rules for cleanup reimbursement.

A request for proposal then went to TFR Enterprises, which began work Nov. 30. The Leander, Texas-based company is contracted for $188 per ton, Hunter said.

City Manager Jerald Gilbert on Nov. 3 told city commissioners that initial work was expected to last another few weeks and cost about $500,000. He said later that cost would now come to more than $1 million, counting November's services and then TFR's, whose work has been extended into January.

Hunter said Tuesday that cost is still around $1 million so far.

Following Gov. Kevin Stitt's declaration of an initial 13 counties as disaster areas, another list of counties — including Garfield — has been submitted to Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and is yet to be approved.

Hunter said that approval should come in the next two to three weeks.

Now that President Donald Trump has declared the ice storm a federal disaster emergency in Oklahoma, following the county approval, Enid can begin the process of federal reimbursement up to 75% of city cleanup costs. OEM will also reimburse 12.5%.

Hunter also built the city's Survey123 geographic information system that utilities staff use to record data on and photograph reported debris piles. This system has been connected to OEM's own pre-disaster assessment system that also usesSurvey123 to report necessary debris data.

Enid residents wanting to report more debris for pickup can use the SeeClickFix app for iPhone or Androids or go to www.seeclickfix.com/Enid, or call the Solid Waste Department at (580) 616-7300. The service also is used to report street or pot hole repairs, among other requests.

Ewald is copy editor and city/education reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

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