After resident backlash, Johnson County city will adopt storm recovery plan

Following several weeks of storms where Spring Hill saw damage, but didn’t qualify for state or federal relief funding, the small city is going to craft its own emergency plan for the future.

“I think it’s nice to have a plan for something not catastrophic, as far as, you know, where it’s a national level, FEMA type, emergency,” Spring Hill Mayor Chad Young told The Star. “That’s where we’re trying to fill the gaps where we can, the best we can.”

During last Thursday’s City Council meeting, council members supported creating a local storm recovery plan for times when the damage doesn’t qualify for state or federal assistance. While specifics weren’t mapped out during the discussion, the plan would identify private contractors the city could have on-call for debris cleanup, lay out overtime policies and procedures for the Public Works and Police departments and establish a line item in the budget to fund recovery efforts.

A plan would come back for final approval at a later date.

City plan to offer no help sparked backlash

Young’s push for the plan came shortly after Spring Hill jumped into recovery late following storms earlier this month.

The city posted on its public Facebook page that damage wasn’t “widespread” and that it wouldn’t provide cleanup assistance — prompting residents to take to the comment section to demand a change of course.

Despite not qualifying for any relief funds, the city listened to its frustrated constituents — prompting the Public Works Department to partner with private contractors and assist with tree limb and debris cleanup.

“In the future, we will be a little bit more mindful of what we say, how we say it and how we approach things,” Young said during the meeting.

Crews were at work after recent storm

Crews are back out this week after more storms whipped through the city — uprooting trees and damaging more properties in the northern parts of the city, he told The Star.

The city jumped in quickly, notifying residents what streets to avoid due to downed trees and that Public Works will conduct another cleanup alongside private contractors this week.

“I think it’s still a work in progress,” Young said about this week’s cleanup. “I think we’re handling this storm better than the last one just because we have some experience under our belt with it. Having a plan in place will make it even easier next time to respond quickly.”

Young said he anticipates that an emergency plan proposal will come before the City Council in late May. In the meantime, Public Works will be collecting smaller tree debris in residential areas this week. A contractor will pick up remaining, large debris starting Monday, May 4.