The purpose of this section is to provide for essential public works services during an emergency/disaster, including solid waste disposal, water distribution, electric distribution, sewer system and debris removal.
 

1. Bertie County
    

   1. Bertie County does not operate a Public Works Department. The County does operate a Building and Grounds Department consisting of two employees who perform general maintenance and a Water Department.
       
   2. A regional landfill utilized by several counties is located in Bertie County off of S.R. 1225, Republican Road. This landfill is owned and operated by a private contractor.
       
   3. All roads in Bertie County (excluding towns) are owned by the State or Federal government and maintained by the North Carolina Division of Highways.
       
   4. No county sewer system exists; rural homes and small businesses not served by municipal systems utilize private septic tanks or outhouses. Two large industries (R.J. Reynolds Avoca Farm and Perdue, Inc.) and several County schools operate private sewer systems.
       
   5. County residents not served by a municipal water system utilize private wells. A County-wide water system has been provided in all areas of the County.
       
   6. Electrical service is provided throughout the County by North Carolina Power and Roanoke Electric Membership Corporation. The Town of Windsor purchases electricity from North Carolina Power and distributes it to Windsor and some of the area surrounding Windsor.
       
   7. The area's electric utilities have mutual aid agreements with other companies which allow augmentation of emergency repair crews during emergencies/disasters.
       
   8. Land-based commercial and residential telephone service for the entire County is provided by Sprint-Carolina Telephone.
       
   9. A private company based in Windsor provides a mobile phone system and a paging service which serves most of Northeastern North Carolina. This paging system is critical to a number of emergency forces in the region. There is cellular phone service in Bertie County at the present time.
       
   10. The Bertie County Board of Education has a limited public works capability that could be utilized during time of disaster.
        
   11. Bertie County is served by two separate Division of Highways maintenance districts within Division One; the maintenance yard in Bertie is located at 120 Powell and Stokes Road near Windsor.
        
   12. Emergency fuel for County vehicles will be available at the County Distribution System located at the County School Bus Garage on County Farm Road.
        
2. Municipal
    
   1. The Town of Aulander public works capability consists of a sanitation and street department which provides garbage pickup and minor street repair, a water department, and a wastewater treatment department. The routine workforce in these departments is usually less than ten people.
       
   2. The Towns of Kelford, Powellsville, and Roxobel each operate separate water systems, provide garbage pickup or service, and mow town properties. Street paving and most repair work is contracted. Normal public works force is one employee in each town.
       
   3. The Towns of Colerain, Askewville, and Lewiston-Woodville each operate sewer systems, wastewater plants, and garbage pickup service. They rely on Bertie County to supply water. Street paving and most repair work is contracted. Each town has one principal employee for these functions.
       
   4. The Town of Windsor operates an electric utility department, a sanitation department, water department, sewer department, and street maintenance department. Street repair work is done locally but paving is contracted. There are twelve full-time and eight part-time employees assigned to public works, including a Public Works Director.
       

   5. The Municipalities have a written mutual aid agreement among themselves for emergency public works assistance.
       

   6. The Towns of Windsor and Aulander have emergency refueling capability (auxiliary powered pumps).
       

   7. The amount of equipment owned by the County and the Municipalities is minimal at best for day to day public works operations, and inadequate for disaster operations.
       

   8. Debris is a consequence of certain disas�ters; the emergency removal of debris by public works forces is critical to the restoration of vital/essential services.
       

   9. A number of logging companies and loggers are located in Bertie County which have equipment ideally suited for debris removal and chipping. 
       

   10. Numerous pieces of heavy equipment suitable for debris removal can be found throughout the County at various farm, business, and industry sites.
        

   11. The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources maintains an equipment headquarters at Greens Cross in Bertie County with suitable equipment for debris removal operations.
        

   12. Certain facilities will receive priority in the restoration of essential services.
        

   13. State owned or supported vehicles can be refueled at the Division of Highways yard equipped with auxiliary power, or field-fueled from DOT tanker trucks.
        

   14. The Division of Forest Resources has fuel at its Green's Cross facility.

1. A catastrophic event affecting multiple counties and/or states may result in the following consequences related to essential services:
    

   • loss of some or all essential services for extended periods of time

   • a shortage of available outside assistance

   • a shortage of materials for repair of utilities

   • overall delay in restoration of essential services

   • rapid exhaustion of local resources

   • inability to relay resource requests/needs

   • attempted price gouging for repair of essential services
      

2. Volunteers will be available and willing to assist with emergency debris removal.
    

3. Interruption of some or all essential services is an expected consequence of an emergency/disaster, resulting in large numbers of people without essential services.
    

4. Following a catastrophic event, all roads and streets will be impassable due to debris.
    

5. The North Carolina Division of Highways will remove debris from the highway and road system. The Division will not remove debris from private property except in extraordinary cases cleared through the State EOC.
    

6. The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources can perform emergency debris removal beyond State property when requested and approved through the State EOC.
    

7. Privately owned farm and industrial equipment will be heavily utilized by volunteers assisting with debris removal.
    

8. Controlled burning of debris will be allowed as a means of disposal.

Debris Removal
 

Priority for emergency debris removal will be given to the following sites, in no particular order:

1. Todd's airstrip
    

2. Known helipads
    

3. EOC
    

4. Emergency services locations
    
5. Medical facilities
    
6. Primary streets and roads
    
7. Vital utilities (power lines, substations, wastewater plants, communications sites)
    
8. Disaster Application Center sites 
    
9. Shelters
    
10. Staging areas/refueling areas
     
11. Regional jail

1. A Debris Coordinator, possibly a Forest Service Ranger or the Director of Maintenance and Grounds, will be designated to work with the operations officer.
    
2. The Debris Coordinator will receive requests for emergency debris removal, prioritize tasks, and deploy available public and private resources. The Bertie County Fire radio system will be utilized to coordinate debris removal operations.
    
3. Temporary debris storage, sorting, and chipping sites will be established throughout the affected area to facilitate management of debris. Sites will be located in areas where burning of debris can be done within applicable regulations.
    
4. The Regional Landfill will assist in the storage and disposal and sorting of large quantities of debris.
    
5. Sites will be established throughout the affected area for distribution of emergency water supplies to the public.
    
6. Available emergency generators will be deployed to vital public facilities which do not have power.
    
7. If available, portable toilets will be provided to the general public and to work sites.