Neighborhood Finally Gets A 1st Pass By Debris Trucks

Even as we get ready for more ice, many Tulsans continue to clean up from last batch and some are just now getting help from the city.  They were passed up as the city picked up limbs on every other street.  The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports while some neighborhoods are getting a second pass by crews, one neighborhood was still waiting for its first.

At 1st and College in Tulsa, Brian Lutke's pile of limbs hasn't moved.  He figures he must be last on the list for limb pickup.

"Been waiting patiently. I knew they would come eventually, though," said Brian Lutke.

Even though the city announced Monday that the first pass was over and the second pass was starting, the neighbors there say they haven't seen a truck since the storm.

 "I don't know which is right because I've called the Mayor's Action Center three times and gotten three different answers," said Art Barber of Tulsa.

But all that is forgotten now, with the arrival Wednesday of the first trucks to pick up on First and First Place East of Delaware.

Debbie Dotson is used to being a spectacle on this job since arriving in Tulsa January 7th.  There aren't many women doing this work and everyone seems to be happy to see the truck coming.

"We've had people bake brownies and cookies and bring out water.  So, everybody has been very appreciative," said Debbie Dotson of Abbington, Virginia.

Her boyfriend is working the claw that is picking up some of the last trees from the first pass of the city.

There's no firm schedule for the next two passes, but Dotson says she's marking off the days she's spent in Tulsa.

"Birthday, Valentines, I just hope not to see spring," said Debbie Dotson.

Some piles were passed over because they were in a dangerous spot, like underneath power lines on Yale Avenue.

But, Art Barber never could find out why he was passed over.  He's just happy his neighborhood finally made the list.

"I don't envy their job. They've done it in the rain and the cold and the snow.  It's cold up there today.  It's cold down here today," said Tulsan Art Barber.

The city reports that two million cubic yards of limbs have already been picked up.  Just the pickup has cost the city $7.8 million, so far.