The debris removal contract between the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and Tetra Tech was amended Thursday so that arborists can identify hurricane-damaged trees in and along the edges of rights-of-way that need removal.

Allen Wainwright, parish public works director, said there are trees that didn’t fall during the landfall of Hurricanes Laura or Delta, but later died from the stress of the storms. Updating the contract’s payment terms allows for additional debris removal activities.

“Those trees present a hazard to the right-of-way if they fall, knock out electricity or hit a vehicle,” he said. “It’s pretty significant. If you ride around, you can see trees that are stressed.”

Wainwright said the arborists, who are already part of Tetra Tech staff, must sign off on the dead trees so they can be removed. The parish’s existing debris contract will be used to remove the trees, with up to 90 percent of the cost eligible for reimbursable by FEMA, he said.

“It’s kind of a third level of debris removal by the roadside,” Wainwright said.

The parish also amended its contract with Hunt, Guillot and Associates to allow additional permitting related to the ongoing removal of hurricane debris from parish drainage laterals.

Wainwright said the permits are on schedule, but the amount of work is larger than initially anticipated.

“This amendment allows them to keep permitting and stay ahead of the work,” he said. “The rates aren’t changing. It’s just extra hours on an hourly contract.”

To date, crews have removed hurricane-related debris from more than 160 miles of drainage laterals, Wainwright said. CrowderGulf is tasked with removing debris from 1,300 miles of drainage laterals parishwide, an effort that is likely to take three years to finish, he said.

Police jurors also approved changing the hours of the residential solid waste convenience centers to 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., starting March 31. Wainwright said this allows residents to take advantage of daylight saving time.