Jackson pickup

It's easy to understand the frustration some Jackson residents have shown about the amount of time it has take city crews to clean up the debris left in the wake of the monster ice storm in February.

Two months later, much of the debris still created eyesores all over town.

It's just as easy to understand the city's position of trying to clean up the mess with available city resources instead of hiring an expensive contractor.

But once the city learned it would be receiving federal assistance for the cleanup, it did the prudent thing and sought bids for cleanup contractor. Last weekend, Christopher Contracting & Construction of Kearney, Mo., arrived with seven crews, two more than it originally promised, and began cleaning the town in a hurry. City officials said the work had been completed by Thursday evening.

The city is paying $2.83 per compacted cubic yard for the work, which was completed this week almost a month before the city-imposed deadline of May 16.

Thanks to the hard work of the contractor and the help of the federal assistance, Jackson is seeing its reputation as a beautiful city restored.