A contractor will soon be picking up storm debris left behind by Tropical Storm Irma from within the right of way along Forsyth County-maintained roads.
The work begin Monday. Southern Disaster Recovery will be picking up the debris while DebrisTech will be performing monitoring and inspection services.
Forsyth County officials say there are a few things that residents and business owners should remember:
Only woody, vegetative storm debris such as trees and limbs will be accepted.
Debris will only be picked up from within the right of way along county-maintained roads.
Debris will only be picked up from residential locations.
Workers are not able to enter onto private property to pick up debris.
Workers are not able to pick up debris from along state routes or city streets.
“This cleanup situation is unique in that we will be picking up debris that residents place within the right of way along county maintained roads,” said Deputy County Manager Tim Merritt. “The fact that Forsyth
County is included in the presidential disaster declaration from Tropical Storm Irma is what is enabling us to make an exception to county policy in this instance. Citizens with woody storm debris on their
property that they would like picked up will need to place that debris in the county right of way. Again, this is something that will only be done for this cleanup, due to the disaster declaration.”
During standard debris cleanup, the county is unable to pick up debris that has fallen onto private property and been moved onto county right of way.
When placing debris in the county right of way:
Please do not place debris in front of or around your driveway, as doing so could impede access by emergency vehicles.
Please do not place debris on top of utilities such as cable and storm drain boxes or fire hydrants.
Please do not place debris in front of or around your mailbox.
There is no need to report that you have debris that needs picking up. The contractor will pick up debris from all county-maintained roads.
The cleanup work is slated to begin in the northern part of the county (north of State Route 20) Monday and is scheduled to begin approximately November 20 in the southern part
of the county (south of State Route 20). The work will occur during daylight hours Monday through Saturday.
“Considering the size of Forsyth County, it will take a few weeks for this work to be completed,” said Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency Director and Fire Chief Danny Bowman. “We
appreciate citizens’ patience while the contractor works to get to every part of the county.”
The contractor will only pick up woody, vegetative storm-related debris. You should not place garbage, household trash or other non-woody, non-vegetative storm debris in the right of way, because it will not be picked up.
If you have questions, you can call Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency at (770) 205-5674.
