Potter County identifies 47 debris piles after Sept. fire; vegetative removal prioritized

County emergency-management staff briefed the Potter County Commissioners Court on Sept. 28 about progress removing debris from a recent fire and outlined next steps to clear remaining piles.

"There are currently 47 piles of debris remaining in the area," Emergency Management lead Max told the court, listing the mix: 25 vegetative, 23 construction-and-demolition, 3 white goods, 5 unknown household waste and 5 containing soil or sand. Staff said some piles overlap by type.

Max said the county has implemented a debris-identification and tracking process and is coordinating with United Way 2-1-1 to communicate with impacted households. Purchasing staff Allison said the county plans to seek vendor estimates for vegetative removal first and expects that portion "won't go over $100,000," keeping procurement under the county's informal threshold for simpler procurement steps.

Officials told commissioners they will issue an RFP for asbestos testing on suspect piles and, depending on results, either seek a general contractor to remove confirmed asbestos-containing material or proceed with standard remediation and resale/reuse options (for example, sending vegetative material to mulching or concrete to a crusher). Commissioners also discussed using the city dump for vegetative material removal to reduce county cost.

The court did not take a formal procurement vote at the briefing but directed staff to proceed with estimates and return with recommended contracting steps.