News

"2004 ICE STORM - CITY OF SUMTER UPDATE"

Monday January 26th we awoke to an icy wonderland through out the City of Sumter and Sumter County. The City of Sumter has been diligently working on keeping the City services current and serviceable to the best of their ability. Joseph T. McElveen, Jr., Mayor of the City of Sumter spoke this morning on how fortunate we are to have the dedicated and loyal City employees. "We have roles to fill and they readily fill them" the Mayor said. The Mayor also said, "The Public services crews have been working continuously and most have worked through the night and into today". The Mayor expressed his gratitude to those who make the emergency plans work. "Although Sumter is in the South and rarely are confronted with situations of this magnitude we are working together City and County with an emergency plan". "This plan has services and personnel ready to react automatically with out previous authorization needed, giving Sumter a preparedness to be proud of". The Mayor would also like to thank the Citizens of Sumter for their patience. The last time we had to cope with a weather situation involving Ice was back in 1973 where we experienced similar situations which included flooding when the weather began to warm. Although we do not have the Snow we will need to be prepared for some water over flows. "We do want to thank you, the Citizens of Sumter once again for your patience and understanding now and in the weeks to come".

Residential Garbage Collection

The City of Sumter attempted to collect residential garbage on Monday but due to the weather conditions coupled with an early closure of the transfer station, that service was halted without being completed. Weather conditions and limbs and power lines blocking streets has delayed this service again today. Normal service should resume on Wednesday morning. Crews will complete the Monday collection and begin Tuesdays routes before getting back on the normal schedule. A good rule of thumb for this week is to expect your residential service about one day delayed. Crews will work Saturday to try and get back on the normal schedule. We thank you for your patients as we try to insure the safety of our employees while providing this needed service to our residents.

Commercial Garbage Service

After a delay on Monday afternoon, the commercial garbage service resumed on Tuesday morning. We do not anticipate any real interruption of this service.

Curbside limb and leaf collections

This is a major concern that will be addressed during the next few days. The City is working closely with the D.O.T., utility companies and others to clear streets and provide passage ways for our Citizens. As residents begin to clean their property there will be an extremely large amount of limbs to handle. Two burn sites have been identified but the possibility that private contractors might have to assist with this collection process is a reality. Additional information will be shared as these plans are completed.

Water and Sewer System

The City's water system is in good shape. Generators that have been placed on the water plants after Hurricane Hugo, performed well, as we have had at least two plants without power continuously. Citizens on the City's system should not have problems receiving water service. As the temperatures begin to rise we will probably experience some water line breaks. Please report any sightings of water coming from the grounds to our emergency number (436-2558).

Our waste treatment plant located on Hwy 521-South is without power and will probably not have power for another day. This is a concern as water is still flowing towards the plant. Overnight crews have been visiting the various pump station sites and using generator power to ensure that the pump stations continue to operate as designed. This problem should not be a concern to the average household but any backups should be reported to our emergency number.

Public Safety

The Police, Fire and other public safety organizations have been constantly monitoring the conditions to ensure that the public is provided the same high quality service. There has been some intermittent problems with the communications towers and microwave transmissions but engineers from Motorola are on site working to correct any problems.

The City of Sumter would like to remind the citizens we are here to serve them. Today and in the next few weeks to come we will be here to assist. If you have concerns or questions please call the public services number at 436-2558.