Politics & Government

Windstorm Cleanup to Take Longer Than Expected

The City is working around the clock to clear debris in the public right-of-way and estimates green waste will be cleaned in about 8 weeks.

Interim City Manager Sergio Gonzalez answers three questions regarding  

How is the City deciding which streets will be cleared of debris each day? Is there anyway for residents to find out when specific roads will be cleaned?

City crews are positioned strategically in four quadrants of the City. This includes the North/West, North/East, South/West and South/East. Each day, our Streets supervisor will determine the progress from the previous day and inform the Public Works Assistant and Public Works Yard Secretary as to what streets they will be concentrating on that day. 

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The public can call (626) 403-7240 or (626) 403-7370 to get a status and update on cleanup work planned for their respective street/neighborhood. 

A City of South Pasadena said residents can expect the City to finish cleaning the streets in 6 to 8 weeks (minimum). Is that still the case? Are we on track?  has this timeline been delayed?

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We’ve been fortunate to have had good weather despite the couple days of rain a couple of weeks ago. We are making progress and are working around the clock, including on Saturdays with the help of additional temporary employees and expansion of our contract with West Coast Arborists. 

However, placing debris from their private property onto the sidewalks/right of way and/or curbside. It certainly will slow progress, and that’s why we’re asking residents to place small branches and/or piles of leaves into “green trashcans” to be collected by Athens in the regular weekly trash pick-up. 

Nevertheless, we will do our best to get to all streets in near future. However, the work is quite cumbersome since it takes lots of man hours, equipment and coordination to haul away all of the debris.   

To provide you with perspective, the short block on Mission Street between Park Avenue and Brent Street took three full days to clear. If you multiply that time and effort by the number of streets (dozens) that were affected in similar fashion, we estimate that at a minimum—at this point (12/29)—it will take our crews 6 to 8 weeks to restore our City.  

Therefore, we have to adjust our timeline so that we do not disappoint our residents by over-promising.    

I know you've set up a deal with Athens for discounted cleanup. Some residents have inquired about these fees asking why they have to pay at all. Can you go into further detail on this matter?  

Athens: To clarify, the City is cleaning the streets/right-of-ways and sidewalks at no charge to our residents. applies to residents who had or have debris on their private property due to down trees etc. This was also done to incentivize residents who want to take it upon themselves and/or with neighbors to get their particular streets cleared faster by hiring a private crew. 

Keep in mind that Athens per the contract they have with the City, has exclusive rights to provide bins (construction/green etc.). Residents/businesses wishing to take advantage of the discounted price to clean up their private property can call (888) 336-6100.   

Nevertheless, the City is spending resources to get our city back in order. As you can imagine, these were not costs that were anticipated and in these tough economic times; I am exercising extreme caution since it is very unlikely at this point that the City will be reimbursed for expenditures related to the natural disaster. 

However, in our response during and now after the disaster, that will eventually mean a reduction in future budgets or decrease to our City reserves. 

Yesterday (12/28), I attended a meeting with several other City Managers in the San Gabriel Valley—who were affected by the windstorms—with the goal of working collaboratively to put pressure on the state and federal government to expedite a decision in our favor to make emergency funds available.


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