Coinciding with the state of emergency ending Monday, curbside flood debris removal will end Tuesday, after a vote from the Kanawha County Commission.
"At some point in time the program has to be stopped," Commission President Kent Carper said. "We have done everything we can."
Anyone who has flood debris to be picked up from their curb needs to call the Kanawha County Planning Office so contractors can go out before Tuesday to pick up those items, County Manager Jennifer Sayre said.
"Folks have just about run out of debris from the flood," Carper said.
The flood debris site at the Clendenin Park and Ride will close Aug. 27.
Since the June 23 floods, 34 million pounds of flood debris has been removed from flood ravaged areas in Kanawha County. The county has spent more than $2.3 million on debris removal. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has reimbursed more than $700,000 of that cost.
That's 1,061 round trips to the Charleston landfill, where all of the debris was taken, Kanawha County Commission Economic Development Director David Armstrong told commissioners.
Sayre announced FEMA has created a Private Property Debris Removal and Demolition Process to remove demolition debris and debris from structures on residential and commercial properties.
This program, which is completely voluntary, will be handled on a case by case basis and is 100 percent paid for by FEMA.
"The county is not going around condemning people's homes or businesses," Carper said, emphasizing the voluntary aspect of the process.
For participating property owners, the county will need to conduct assessments of each piece of property to determine why removal is in the public interest, based on whether it's to: eliminate threats to public health or safety, eliminate threats of significant damage to improved public or private property, or ensuring economic recovery of the community to benefit the community-at-large.
If the property is eligible, the owner will have to sign a "Right of Entry" form.
FEMA has never used this process in West Virginia, but has used it in other disaster affected cities, such as Joplin, Missouri.
At the end of the month, county staff will undergo training for a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. After training is completed, public meetings will be held for anyone in the area who would like to be considered for the program, Sayre told commissioners. Funding will be provided to the state from FEMA, and the state will manage and approve the projects.
This could allow residents to elevate structures out of a flood zone, remove structures and build a whole new structure or acquire property.
This would encourage the flood damaged areas to rebuild instead of moving away to a different community.
"If we don't do that, the alternative is buy them out and tear them down, [which would] obliterate the tax base in the Elk community," Carper said.
This, like the Private Property Debris Removal And Demolition Process, also is voluntary.
The deadline for FEMA Individual Assistance applications is Sept. 7.
The Kanawha County Commission will hold its next meeting at 5 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Kanawha County Courthouse.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.