What you need to know about private road pickup in Beaufort County, on Hilton Head

Beaufort County committed to the cleanup of private roads Monday night, but the looming question of when pickup begins is still out of its hands.

County Council members declared a county state of emergency in a 10-1 vote. The proclamation should help the county make its case to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said.

The county will not remove debris until a decision comes from FEMA.

And even then, Gruber warned, cleanup is “... not going to happen overnight.”

Another big unknown is who will pay the county’s contractor for the work.

The contract for public roads alone is just shy of $10 million, Gruber said, but a discussion on who will pick up the tab for private road cleanup hasn’t even begun.

Here’s what we do know:

Background questions

Q: President Barack Obama declared Beaufort County a disaster area. Why isn’t the federal government helping me and my neighbors who live in a gated community?

A: FEMA’s public assistance program covers debris removal only on public roads, so counties must file paperwork if they want reimbursement for debris removal from private roads.

Q: Why isn’t the local government helping remove debris right now?

A: If a county or municipality intervenes and helps remove debris from a private community before getting FEMA’s stamp of approval, the federal government won’t reimburse them for the cost.

Q: Why are Beaufort County and the Town of Hilton Head Island filing separate requests for reimbursement?

A: Typically, paperwork is filed by the county, but the town already had some contracts with property owners associations that affected its application.

“We’re trying to get through hoops,” town manager Steve Riley said Tuesday. “Whether we should or shouldn’t (have applied separately), I have no idea.”

FEMA did not ask the town to file a separate application, federal officials said.

FEMA questions

Q: What’s the definition of a private road?

A: “Any nonpublic road for which a subdivision of the state is not legally responsible to maintain,” FEMA regulations say.

Private roads include roads owned and maintained by homeowners associations, including gated communities, and roads for which no entity has claimed responsibility.

Q: What’s FEMA’s track record in granting requests for private road cleanup?

A: “It’s pretty common,” agency spokesman Victor Inge said last week. “Too many times to mention.”

Denials, however, do occur.

After Hurricane Irene swept over North Carolina’s Outer Banks, FEMA denied Dare County reimbursement for private roads in the first round of paperwork. But it later approved it.

On Tuesday, Inge could not immediately provide the number of denials FEMA issued in the last decade.

Q: How long will it take for FEMA to make its decision?

A: The agency is still reviewing paperwork that both the county and Hilton Head filed last week.

“Every day we’re closer, but we don’t have a timeline for when decisions will be made,” Inge said Tuesday.

Inge declined to provide an average time from when paperwork is initially filed to when FEMA makes its decision.

But the agency’s turnaround has sometimes been much quicker.

When flooding plagued portions of Louisiana in August, FEMA approved a private-property debris removal plan on Sept. 3, just four days after the Aug. 31 request, according to a letter from FEMA to the Louisiana governor’s office.

“Every disaster is unique,” Inge said. “We’re working as swiftly as possible.”

Q: What criteria must the town/county meet to receive federal reimbursement?

A: “When a large-scale disaster deposits such massive amounts of debris onto private property, and it’s determined a threat to health and safety, or it’s beyond the community’s ability to deal with, the costs of debris removal may be eligible under FEMA’s (Public Assistance) program,” Inge said.

County questions

Q: When will the county go onto private roads and clean up?

A: Not until FEMA makes a decision.

Going in beforehand could jeopardize millions of reimbursement dollars. The county’s contractor, Ceres Environmental Services Inc., is still working on public roads in the meantime.

Once FEMA makes its decision, the work on private roads will begin — even if the agency denies the county’s request, Gruber said.

Q: If FEMA grants the county’s request, will Hilton Head be covered?

A: Yes, the county’s request covers all of Beaufort County.

Q: If FEMA grants the county’s request, how much will the federal agency pay?

A: Gruber broke down the percentage of federal reimbursement for debris removal:

▪  For the first 30 days, FEMA would cover 87 percent of the cost.

▪  For the next 60 days, FEMA would cover 82 percent of the cost.

▪  After 90 days, FEMA would cover 75 percent of the cost.

Q: If FEMA grants the county’s request, who pays the remaining 13, 18 and 25 percent?

A: It’s still under discussion whether the cost would fall on municipalities, individual plantations or the county, Gruber said.

He could not provide a timeline for when the financial decision would be made.

Q: If FEMA refuses to pay, will the county pick up the tab?

A: Again, it’s still up for debate. While the county committed to cleaning up private roads, the cost could fall on municipalities, individual plantations or the county, Gruber said.

Q: In which gated communities will the county’s contractor start?

A: That’s up to the contractor.

But Gruber added that the goal is to have crews in all areas of the county.

Hilton Head questions

Q: What percent of Hilton Head’s roads are private?

A: Of the 549 miles of island roads, 437 are private, according to county data. That means 80 percent of Hilton Head’s roads could potentially be denied federal reimbursement.

Q: If FEMA grants the town’s request, would all of Beaufort County be covered?

A: No, Hilton Head’s application, if accepted, does not apply countywide, Gruber said.

Q: If FEMA grants Hilton Head’s request, who pays the remainder of the bill?

A: The town has agreed to cover the cleanup costs for private roads within the town’s limits for the portion of the bill not paid by FEMA, Riley said, unless county or state funding is available.

Q: If FEMA doesn’t pay, will the town pick up the tab?

A: First, the town would appeal that decision.

If denied again, Town Council would meet to discuss whether the town could cover the full cost, Riley said.

Traffic/parking questions

Q: Which lanes are closed when?

A: Along U.S. 278 from Squire Pope Road to the Wilton Graves Bridge, temporary lane closures will be in place from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. beginning Tuesday and running for the “next several weeks,” according to a town news release.

All other U.S. 278 and other public road closures will occur during the day.

Q: Where is parking prohibited?

A: If you park on the street, make sure you’re not parking in front of a debris pile. Debris removal trucks will be unable to clear streets if you’re parked there.

For city of Beaufort residents, this instruction is particularly important to those parking on East, New, Craven, West and Port Republic streets. There will be free parking at the 500 Carteret St. lot until streets are cleared of debris.

Miscellaneous questions

Q: Where should I (as a homeowner) place my debris?

A: The general rule of thumb is to place it on the road right-of-way, a 10-foot wide area off the edge of the asphalt. Logs and branches should be kept to no longer than 24 feet in length.

Contact your POA for more specific information.

Q: What should gated communities be doing with debris?

A: Nothing.

FEMA’s paperwork requires the latitude and longitude coordinates of where debris fell, so gated communities consolidating debris piles off the sides of streets and into debris centers are hindering the county and town’s chances of federal reimbursement.

Q: Where can I get more of my questions answered?

A: Ceres, the county’s debris removal contractor, started a 24-hour line to answer residents’ questions. Call 1-877-786-7612.

The county’s own debris hotline is 843-685-9880.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 1:14 PM with the headline "What you need to know about private road pickup in Beaufort County, on Hilton Head."