Abuse of county dumpsters is hot topic as commissioners seek ideas for solution
By SPARKY NEWSOME editor

The long-standing and growing problem of servicing and maintaining the county's dumpsters was the main topic of conversation at last Thursday's regular meeting of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners and even though a followup work session was cut short by a power outage, some fresh ideas emerged.

There was not a lot of progress made in determining an actual solution to the problem, although several ideas were mentioned and discussed, but there is a chance that the county will host a series of "town meetings" to tell the public about the problem and also for residents to offer their suggestions for a solution.

"We are having a lot of problems with our dumpsters and because of the trash around the dumpsters, our trucks are having a hard time getting around," Chairman Sam Moore said. He pointed out that the county's dumpsters are intended for household garbage only but people are putting all kinds of discarded items in and around them. From mattresses to refrigerators to animal carcasses to construction waste, the inappropriate items thrown out at dumpster sites are so many that county employees can't keep the areas cleaned up. Also, Moore said, there's a lot of garbage coming from out-of-county sources especially at sites near adjoining counties.

"The dumpsters are made for household garbage and that's all that should be in them," Moore continued, "but they are being abused and it's a real expense to clean them up." In fact, Moore said people have accused the county of not cleaning up the sites when in fact they have been cleaned up - but they get messed up again so quickly it looks like they were never cleaned in the first place.

"Anything we do, we've got to make sure it is cost effective," Moore said. "The dumpsters are so scattered and there are so many, it's hard to get around to all of them and police them. We think it's a good free service for the people of the county and we want to continue, but it is completely out of hand and we've got to findsome kind of solution." He added that he hopes the problem doesn't get to the point where the county has to look at alternatives.

Expressing his frustration over the abuse of dumpster sites, Moore pointed out that the transfer station will accept construction waste, old appliances, and other items at no cost to residents and the station is open even on Saturday mornings. He also said that there are enough dumpster sites so that people "can surely findone that is not full if they will just drive around and look a little bit."

Currently the county services about 70 dumpster sites and close to 150 actual dumpsters. The service is one of the fivemost expensive services provided by the county. The others are the jail, the sheriff's department, the Wilkes County Emergency Medical Services, and the county roads department.

Dates and sites for the suggested town meetings will be announced if and when they are determined.

All of the commissioners were present for the September 13 meeting including Divenski Lee, Donna Hardy, John Howard, Jerry Stover, and Moore. Also in attendance were County Administrator David Tyler, County Attorney Charles LeGette, and a number of visitors.

In other business:

l Tyler reported that Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax collections for the month of June had bee received in the amount of $89,137.52, and that Local Option Sales Tax amounted to $57,786.92 for the same month.

l EMS Director Blake Thompson reported that a weekend event at Aonia Pass had been well attended. He said his department is preparing for two concerts to be held at Aonia Pass in October. Thompson also said that construction on the additions to the EMS building should begin in about two weeks.

l Hardy reported on a number of upcoming events and meetings.

l Jack Bentley Jr. was appointed to the Wilkes County Board of Tax Assessors.

l Moore announced that the next regular meeting of the commissioners would be held on Thursday, October 11, at 2 p.m.

l And executive session for personnel matters was held but no officialaction was taken.

Reader Comments

No comments have been posted. Be the first!

Other Stories With Comments:
Article	Comments
The Office Cat	1
Family escapes death in semi hit-and-run	1
Feed a family of four for $10 a week	1