Editor;
Does the County face a trash apocalypse or a solution that is fiscally responsible? The Solid Waste Authority now under the control of a small group of residents who have been quite vocal opponents of the previous board’s proposed solution of a waste transfer station. A deal with JacMal Industries to implement this has been rejected by them. The landfill is rapidly reaching capacity. Before the landfill, a lot of trash went over the hill or into sink holes. We live in cave country, and chemicals can easily enter the ground water if these materials are not properly disposed of.
This county also depends on tourism, which will be at risk if we have trash all over the place. We dodged a bullet recently with a dump extension buying more time, but time is still running out. The Authority had previously requested the business community provide possible options. Will the new folks now in control follow up on this? I fully support considering all options and suggest that detailed business plans for all these proposals with verifiable cost breakdowns both short and long term be made available to the public, the numbers will be a major part of what determines the best solution. Not doing this means picking a solution based on the personnel preferences of a small unelected group. The solution also needs to work in the real world, be cost effective and convenient enough that it is used. Sadly, if the process is not convenient some folks will just improperly dispose of their trash.
The fix needs to address construction debris and white goods like appliances in addition to household trash. The small vocal group in control believes they speak for all residents since no one has shown up at meetings and not supported them. Based on my discussions with neighbors, many residents of the county are not aware of these issues, so this conclusion is not valid. With the rejection of the JacMal Industries deal what will the costs to the taxpayers be? A legal memorandum of understanding was part of the deal that provides this company with monetary damages of up to $200,000 if it is not continued to cover their costs so far. What happens if JacMal Industries builds a transfer station for their own customers, reducing the volume of trash that the county must dispose of. Less trash could mean higher costs to the county since certain costs are fixed regardless to some degree of volume.
Will the small group now in control be open with the public and consider all the options? The committee they have formed appears to be made up exclusively of these folks. I hope the answer is openness and a viable solution. Whatever the answer, costs will go up that we as the taxpayers will be stuck with.
It has been reported that the waste disposal operation itself is broke and that the existing tipping fees for the dump have not even covered actual costs so those paying green box fees have been subsidizing these operations. This is one of many problems that the group now in control has inherited that must be solved.
I have no dog in this fight other than to ask that all possible solutions be evaluated with openness regarding the process so that it has vital community support. It would be helpful for the Solid Waste Authority to answer these questions in The Pocahontas Times so more folks can understand what is going on and what the Authority is going to do to fix these problems since many cannot attend meetings.
Joe Kaffl
Hillsboro
