County ramps up debris cleanup efforts following Mara

The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday mulled the county’s ongoing response to Winter Storm Mara, which rattled Central Texas with sleet, ice and rain four weeks ago, snapping power cables and tearing down tree branches.

Discussion centered on county efforts to remove storm debris and fallen branches, which accumulated in considerable quantity after Mara and created a logistic quagmire for local officials.

Following the conversation at Commissioners Court, the county announced it will begin debris pickup from unincorporated areas of the county.

“So the good news is, we were able to start pickup on Saturday,” said Cynthia McDonald, head of Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources. McDonald said the county removed 278 loads so far, consisting of 13,586 cubic yards of debris.

“That’s mostly in the Pflugerville area, and a little bit of Wells Branch west of I-35,” McDonald said, adding that pickup on the west side should start soon.

The county announced that debris collection will probably take multiple weeks, “due to a high number of service requests and the high volume of fallen branches caused by the historic storm.”

“Residents who live on these public roadways are asked to cut their tree debris into four-to-five-feet pieces and place them by their curb without blocking the road. Travis County will only pick up tree limbs and branches, not other materials like trash,” the county said in a statement, adding that collectors will not enter private property to access debris.

“Early on we got calls from a number of places, some of which included places that were not classified as county-maintained areas. We also got calls from gated communities, and we weren’t positive of what to tell them,” said Commissioner Brigid Shea, citing state legislative policies limiting the county’s ability to raise revenue as part of the reason for the initial indecisiveness.

McDonald said the county can assist with cleanup in any accessible roadway. “So even if it’s unmaintained, and we haven’t accepted it for road maintenance in our system, we can certainly haul brush from the right of way if it’s open to the public.”

McDonald added that gated communities are private property. From a legal standpoint, however, the county would have the ability to go on private property in emergency events such as this one, she said.

“It’s up to the court’s discretion whether or not you want to do that,” she said.

“I think for a big gated community, we would do that,” said Travis County Judge Andy Brown.

Residents can access Winter Storm Mara recovery information here.

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor.

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