Erie council adds emergency hauling contracts, OKs $4 million in storm recovery transfers

Erie City Council voted Wednesday to add two emergency hauling contracts to the agenda and to move $4 million from city fund balances to pay immediate storm-recovery costs. Mayor Daria Develin told council the money would be taken from savings — not operating funds — while the city seeks reimbursement from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).

Council unanimously approved motions to waive rules and add two hauling contracts for chip removal: Keystone Tree Cycling Inc. at $3.75 per cubic yard and XL Excavating Inc. at $4.00 per cubic yard. The additions were presented as urgent steps to free space at the city compost site so crews can keep picking up downed trees and woody debris.

"We are asking you to allocate $3 million from the general fund fund balance and $1 million from the refuge fund fund balance," Develin said, describing those accounts as the city's rainy-day funds for emergency use. She said the city has been tracking overtime and other storm-related expenses for submission to PEMA for reimbursement.

Develin outlined operational needs behind the request: rent a grinder to process wood at the compost site, contract trucking to move wood chips off-site, and maintain continuous debris collection across neighborhoods. She said the city has already collected roughly 15,500 cubic yards of debris and estimates the storm impacted between 800 and 1,000 trees—about 10% of the city’s urban canopy.

Councilors framed the transfers as temporary cash-flow measures. Finance staff will track overtime and expenses to support the PEMA reimbursement request, the mayor said. City staff also briefed council that earlier advice from a consultant team was that "this is when you use your fund balance" for emergency expenditures.

What happens next: Two ordinances transferring $1 million from the refuge fund and $3 million from the general fund were adopted on first reading by a unanimous vote. The hauling contracts were formally added and will be executed so crews can continue debris removal and compost-site processing without delay.