Commissioners urged to revisit solid waste ordinance

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Members of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department SETT Team, from left, Lt. Al Kinkaid, Sgt. Jimmy Clawson, Sgt. Scott Buttery, officer Johnny Hollifield, Detective Patrick McCoy, Sgt. Ellith McFalls, Officer Chip Beagle, Lt. Chip Hall and Officer Dwight McMahan receive last minute instructions from Chief Deputy Jim Ashe, left, prior to a review by the Jackson County commissioners. "Recent headlines show that we are not in a small community anymore," Ashe said. SETT Team members have been activitated 25 times since they started in 1995. "We're here to save lives, not take lives," Sheriff Jim Cruzan said. "These are the people who are called in when the police are in trouble." - Herald photo by Lisa Majors-Duff

That was the message delivered by two private waste haulers to county commissioners during their meeting last week (Feb. 15). The haulers ­ Bill Buscemi of Helping Hands Service Co. and Tom Vokes of Earthworks Recycling ­ appeared before the board in response to a report from GDS officials, who claimed last month that private haulers' use of the SCRs is costing the county unnecessary extra tipping fees at the Macon County Landfill.

GDS, a Hendersonville-based solid waste hauler, staffs the county's eight SRCs, hauls recyclables to Webster Enterprises in Dillsboro and transports solid waste to Franklin on a contract basis with the county. According to the contract, the county pays GDS $25,000 a month for unlimited trash compactor pulls from the SRCs, $3,312 per site per month for staffing and $1,100 per site per month for equipment leasing. The increased cost to the county, said Jean McElroy of GDS, is incurred with extra $50 tipping fees.

"The way to save the county money is to keep the commercial waste out of the SRCs," Buscemi said.

In his research, Buscemi said he found a reference in the county's agreement with Macon County that only residential waste be transported to the Franklin landfill. Other than that, he said, the county has no way without an ordinance to insist that businesses not use the SRCs for garbage disposal.

"A legitimate private hauler is not costing the county anything because they are hauling garbage for people who have paid their taxes," Buscemi said.

While it currently costs nothing to dispose of household waste and recyclables at the SRCs, county taxpayers are assessed a solid waste tax yearly ­ $60 per household and business ­ which is used to fund the centers. In addition to these revenues, the county's general fund this fiscal year will contribute $911,843 to cover solid waste expenses, according to county finance officer Darlene Fox.

"There are a couple of bad apples out there giving us all a bad name," he said. "We are trying to do the right thing; others are not."

Not only are county residents being misled by GDS and the numbers they presented during the last meeting, but GDS is not living up to its end of the bargain with the county, said Vokes. Many SRC attendants, who are GDS employees, are not offering assistance to those who use the centers as is required by the contract between GDS and the county, he said.

Vokes, who said he requires his customers to recycle even though the requirement has limited his customers, also voiced concern about the county's recycling contractor. That service is contracted to Webster Enterprises, which recently subcontracted the recycling service to Country Collections.

"I'm currently hauling all my recyclables to Macon County because the county's recycling is in such disarray," said Vokes, who also requested the county commissioners revisit the proposed solid waste ordinance.

Board Chairman Jay Denton suggested a special meeting in the near future to discuss options with members of the county's solid waste advisory board and possibly the planning board.

In a related matter, Arthur Kijek of Kitchens Branch expressed a complaint about being assessed two landfill fees after adding an apartment to his home. Kijek said he took his complaint originally to tax assessor Cecil Dills, but the matter was not handled to his satisfaction.

"I feel (the second fee) is grossly unfair," said Kijek, who described himself as living alone and taking his garbage to the SRC once every six weeks.

Denton said he would look into the matter and respond to Kijek's complaint in writing.

In other business to come before the board, commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the Sheriff's Department budget that failed by a vote of 2-2 last month. The amendment adds $12,646 to three line items in the Sheriff's budget ­ salaries, supplies and capital outlay. The funds were generated from department vending fees and turned over the county finance office after an auditor pointed out a legal problem with keeping the funds in an unofficial bank account.

Board members also approved $10,000 to be taken from the budget contingeny to fund the county manager recruitment effort. In addition to paying a consultant with the N.C. Institute of Government and $1,500 for printed advertisements for the job, the funds will be used to pay travel expenses for candidates' interviews, Fox said.

Commissioners approved a request from SPIR Director Richard McHargue for $2,000 and a county Transit vehicle to be used for this year's Greening Up the Mountains festival. The event, which drew about 5,000 people to downtown Sylva last year, is scheduled for April 28, he said.

On the recommendation of county Department of Public Health Director Randall Turpin, board members approved the concept of a school health program, which would be funded by a three-year Kate B. Reynolds grant in the amout of $642,000.

"The goals of the countywide school health program are to improve students' access to primary care during school hours; promote healthy lifestyles and positive mental health through health education; and to create an environment that provides opportunities to develop a positive sense of community and self," Turpin said.

If funded, more than 3,600 Jackson County students would have access to physical exams, immunizations and triage (for sick and injured students). Staff would also be available to monitor students with special needs and chronic illnesses, he said.

The grant's level of funding will decrease in the second and third years, at which time Turpin requested the board commit to funding a public health nurse position. In addition to requesting funds from the county, Turpin said he plans to approach the board of education for its support.

Commissioners also approved Turpin's request to provide on-call pay for animal control officers, one of which is required to be available 24 hours a day for rabies control. The cost to the county would be $2,000 through the end of the fiscal year, he said.

Upon the recommendation of Chairman Denton, board members approved the Personal Protection Plan, which was written to protect county employees from the risk of injury by creating a barrier against workplace hazards. The program specifically addresses eye, face, head, foot and hand protection.

Appointments approved last week included:

­ Sharon Nigro to the Jackson County Nursing and Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee.

­Scott Stanberry, Gene Couch and Annie Ripley-Gehring to the Jackson County Recreation Advisory Board.

The next meeting of the board will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1, at the Justice Center. This meeting will be followed the next day, Friday, March 2, by an all-day budget planning retreat at Mica's Restaurant in Sapphire.

Back to Archive: 02/22/01.