DICKINSON, Texas - The City of Dickinson is warning residents to remove storm debris or pay the city fines.
Since November, the city has not included storm debris in its regular trash pick-up. The city says that responsibility now rests with the property owner or private contractor.
Dickinson resident Earlene Harbour spent several minutes Friday assessing the pile of damaged floor boards, furniture and other debris left by Hurricane Harvey. She has lived in her home on Deats Road for 25 years.
“We had 5 feet of water in here, so we lost everything, basically,” Harbour said.
Her neighbors here suffered similar devastation, and just like her, they are now receiving warning tickets from police officers, giving them 30 days to remove storm debris from their front yards or face a judge and be fined.
“I don’t think it’s right, because there’s still a lot of people here in Dickinson trying to get stuff out of their homes, and they’re still trying to get re-built, so you’re going to have sheet rock, lumber and stuff like that you’re going to have to get rid of,” Harbour said.
She says residents need more time for the clean-up process. Many claim they experienced delays with getting FEMA assistance and help from their insurance companies, and that that contributed to the delay in removing debris from homes, and removal of debris from front yards.
The warning ticket Harbour received a few days ago states the type of violation is “impeding drainage.”
Wood and insulation are noted as being in the front yard. She’s grateful to get help hauling away the debris.
John Stanaland works for 4 Alarm Junk Removal and says the company has “partnered with the 4B Disaster Response Network to clean up a lot of these homes in Dickinson.” Stanaland says his company is a small operation, but they already have 80 homes from which to haul debris.
Stanaland says providing assistance is a necessity for most residents.
“A lot of people don’t have the trailer and equipment to drive this off to the dump. Dump fees could be anywhere from $100 to $200, maybe $300.”
Several trips are also often involved, adding to the cost.
KHOU reached out to the Mayor of Dickinson and other city officials for a comment about deadlines and fines but did not hear back.