Storm Recovery Update

The City’s recovery from the July storms continues.

Human Services director Bill Seidhoff will join me today in announcing that we will add 28,000 cases of donated food to the City’s private food pantries. The food will help the local groups replace food distributed after the storm and other stock lost when the power failed. The state’s Surplus Property Division helped us to identify and secure the new food.

Bill and I will also acknowledge the good work done by the state’s Division of Family Support. In just over a week, the Division re-issued food stamps to more than 21,000 households, benefiting nearly 50,000 City residents - an incredible job.

Meanwhile, Parks Director Gary Bess, whose department is one of several City agencies helping coordinate the removal of storm debris, reports the private crews retained on an emergency basis to help clear tree limbs from the public rights of way have completed their extended contracts. The departure of the debris crews means that City residents should start using the regular yard waste containers again - or drop limbs at the compost site on Hall Street.

Gary also says that twenty private crews of tree trimmers are still at work. Their primary job is to remove any broken hanging limbs or splits larger than 2 inches and longer than 2 feet. Up to this point, the crews have concentrated on streets trees, and should be finished with their first citywide sweep by the 18th. After that, they will begin work on parks trees.