Debris removal and stream restoration in the Peeks Creek area of Macon County is expected to begin this week and will cost approximately $1.3 million, but the project will not cost the county a dime.

The National Resources Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program and Emergency Conservation Program will bear the brunt of the costs. Gov. Mike Easley has promised that the state would pay the 25 percent not covered by the federal program.

Macon County is not the only entity receiving this 25 percent funding. Across the state, similar agreements for 25 percent funding total $24 million. That money will come from the $90 million Statewide Disaster Reserve Easley created as relief funds from the six storms that swept across North Carolina this hurricane season.

The National Resources Conservation Service has authorized Macon County to spend up to $1.4 million on clean-up and recovery efforts throughout the county. To date, nine projects totaling just more than $1.4 million have been identified. Peeks Creek alone is expect to cost $1.3 million; however, final costs will not be determined until the project is complete. The work on Peeks Creek should take approximately three months, said County Manager Sam Greenwood.

Macon County officials spent last week reviewing bids and awarded the Peeks Creek contract to Appalachian Construction.

“We had a lot of bidders which is good,” Stahl said.

Appalachian Construction Inc. submitted the low bid for debris removal at a rate of $4 per cubic yard. The company agreed to accept all three contracts for the work, using subcontractors to perform grinding and trucking.

“This will allow Macon County to deal with only one contractor, and make them as the prime contractor responsible for coordinating all phases or work and resolving any disagreements between contractors,” the report states.

DeSoto Trail Construction has been selected as grinding subcontractor. While the company did not submit the lowest bid, Stahl reported that the company was more experienced and had better equipment than lowest bidder, Tim Carpenter. Using a company like DeSoto that would be better able to handle a project the size of the Peeks Creek clean up, would most likely result in a lower total cost, as it would take fewer hours for the company to do the job, Stahl’s report stated. DeSoto will charge a rate of $350 per hour.

Kinsland Trucking, which already has been used to transport emergency clearing and N.C. Department of Transportation clearing from Peeks Creek, has been selected as the subcontractor to transfer debris out of state at a rate of $375 per load.

Estimates indicate the debris load from Peeks Creek to be up to 60,000 cubic yards or 12,000 to 13,000 tons, Stahl said.

“That’s about six months worth of waste like we’d get into the municipal solid waste landfill,” Stahl said.

Consequently, the debris will be hauled out of state, to avoid taking up room in the Macon County landfill. The county has taken in 180 tons of material to its landfill that have been tracked as disaster material; however, that figure does not take into account the smaller loads deposited by individuals, Stahl said.

Approximately 1,800 tons of material — most of it cleared by N.C. Department of Transportation crews from the road running though the Peeks Creek community — and 140 tons of commercial and demolition waste have been shipped out of state.

“We just couldn’t have handled that volume,” Stahl said.

Another 500 to 700 tons of vegetative material collected at emergency debris sites were turned into mulch for use along the county’s greenway.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for the costs associated with debris removal so far, though not at the waste division’s full tipping fee. The county usually charges $48 per ton for waste disposal. Reimbursement is expected to come at a rate between $30 and $35 per ton, Stahl said.

Once clean up is finished, the county plans to begin the process of buying out properties but is waiting to hear back from the state legislature about how much money will be allocated for storm recovery, Greenwood said. Local legislators have pushed for a special session to get moving on hurricane recovery allocations, saying that waiting to address these needs until the regularly scheduled session may cause them to get lost in the budgetary shuffle. However, Greenwood said he had heard a special session would not be called after all.

“Hopefully we won’t grow old waiting,” Greenwood said.