Debris Removal Underway with a Few Reminders

Augusta's Contractor, CERES, is in the process of collecting debris for all of Richmond County except for the city of Hephzibah and State Routes. This collection includes all non-bagged yard debris resulting from Hurricane Helene that has been placed on the city's right-of-way. Please do not place debris in the roadway or block private driveways.

Types of debris currently being collected include:

• Branches and Limbs
• Trees
• Trunks
• Please do not put bagged yard waste on debris piles.

There is no requirement for cut length.

Please take care to place the debris away from utility poles, under low-hanging utility lines, on water meters, on mailboxes, etc. and leave room for trash cans to avoid missing your regular garbage collection.

In the coming days, the contractor will be cutting down leaning trees, heavily damaged trees, and hanging limbs. When this occurs, the stump will be left for the time being and removed during the final stages of the project.

The contractor is not permitted to go onto private property to remove debris under any circumstances, so please do not ask them.

Any trees that have fallen from private property into the city right-of-way that have not been moved completely to the right of way, will be cut by the contractor at the right-of-way line and the remaining portions will be left for the property owner to place in the right-of-way for the next pass.

Please note the following exceptions:

1. Any waste that has been bagged is not eligible for pick up from the contractor but will be collected by your normal garbage pick-up.
2. No construction or demolition debris will be picked up during this stage. Please do not mix this type of debris with vegetative debris as it will significantly slow down the removal process. Once vegetative debris collection has been collected, guidance for other types of debris will be announced.

As for schedule: the contractor is still in the process of ramping up its forces, the number of haul trucks is increasing daily. Subsequently, they are addressing the hardest hit areas where roadways are being impacted and underground infrastructure such as water lines and fire hydrants have been damaged. To that end, our goal is to complete with removal of all debris well within the 90-day window. We do not have an estimated timeframe for when collections will occur in each subdivision or specific road, but rest assured we are using the best available technology and mapping applications to track our progress and ensure that all county roadways are cleared.

Please be patient, once the debris collection is almost complete, we will make an announcement of when the "Final Pass" will begin and where it will start. This announcement will be made at least five days (to include a weekend) prior to the beginning of the "Final Pass". Once the "Final Pass" has been made on your street, the contractor will not return to collect anymore debris.

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