MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — Montgomery County Commissioners approved an immediate halt to all debris removal work in the county following disputes over costs resulting from the May storms, the derecho and Hurricane Beryl.

What happens?

During the August 27 Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners expressed dissatisfaction with a request from CrowderGulf, LLC for an additional $10 million in funding for debris removal in the county.

“We’ve already collected more debris than we expected,” said Jason Millsaps, executive director of the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “There’s still a lot of debris to collect.”

Millsaps said the county has collected 1.2 million cubic yards of debris, with an estimated 400,000 cubic yards more removed from the roads. But some commissioners expressed doubt that the debris was actually storm damage.

“I’ve seen dead trees being cut down in The Woodlands, trees being piled up on public land and then (the county) removing them. This has to stop,” said Third District Commissioner James Noack.

Millsaps also said the county has an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to pick up debris from residential properties along state rights-of-way. In exchange for the pickup, the county received reimbursement from the Department of Transportation for any funds provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove the debris.

The collapse

On July 16, commissioners allocated $14.6 million for debris removal, but CrowderGulf’s new cost estimate puts the total cost of debris removal at $24 million.

Fourth District Commissioner Matt Gray asked if the commissioners could handle the pickup of the remaining debris themselves rather than hiring another company to do it. However, Millsaps said that process would involve moving, shredding and disposing of 37,000 cubic yards of plant waste, which could take several months at the commissioners’ offices.

“I’m not going to spend the next six months cleaning up my stuff,” said Second District Supervisor Charlie Riley. “I’ve got too much to do.”

Without funding approval, all debris clearance work would have to stop until an agreement on funding is reached, Millsaps said.

What happens next?

Commissioners agreed to hold a special meeting on September 3 to hear from a representative of CrowderGulf to explain the reasons for the high cost of debris removal. Until then, debris removal operations will cease effective August 27.

This article comes from our ABC13 partners at Community Impact Newspapers.