At the March 9 meeting, the Cedar Park City Council approved an amendment to a contract for emergency winter storm-related brush cleanup services and extended the local disaster declaration. Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin had issued the local state of disaster for Cedar Park on February 1 after Winter Storm Mara had swept through Central Texas between January 31 and February 2, leaving residents with several downed trees and extensive property damage.
The disaster declaration was extended again due to the prolonged period of storm cleanup that is expected to take even longer, according to the city. To cover the additional time and resources needed to clear the storm debris in Cedar Park, a contract with T.F.R. Enterprises Inc. for an additional $800,000 was approved. This brought the total contract agreement to $1.8 million, which will be funded through the city’s budget.
City staff provided an update on residential tree collection and storm cleanup at the meeting. Residential curbside tree pickup is 75% completed, and crews are still working to finish the remaining areas. Residential curbside collection for storm-related tree debris has been ongoing since February 13. So far, the city has collected 195,540 cubic yards of tree debris. By the time pickup is completed, staff estimates the city will have collected 300,000 cubic yards of tree debris.
The city has done a great job in storm cleanup efforts so far, but a timeline of when the residential curbside collection will be fully completed was not presented at the meeting. For more information on storm cleanup efforts in Cedar Park, visit the city website.
