County's solid waste rules to take effect April 1

By Lisa Majors-Duff

County commissioners adopted the solid waste management ordinance during their meeting Dec. 20 after agreeing to two last-minute changes that allow commercial waste to be deposited at staffed recycling centers.

The first change, which gives private garbage haulers the right to dispose of their customers' household waste at the SRCs, was hotly debated during last month's public hearing on the proposed ordinance. The original document, which specifically stated that SRCs would not accept any waste from private garbage hauling businesses, caused many haulers to cry foul.

Owners of such businesses argued that preventing them from using SRCs for household waste would be place an unfair financial burden on their customers who are unable to remove their own garbage. Like all other county taxpayers, their customers are required to pay a $60 landfill user fee, the haulers said. The amount these customers would be required to pay for pickup service would substantially increase if haulers were forced to dispose of household garbage at a facility outside Jackson County, they said.

This line of reasoning led commission Chairman Jay Denton to question the equality of allowing one business - a private garbage hauler - to use the SRC and not another small business - like a CPA working out of his home, for example.

"If private haulers are businesses, and private haulers can use the SRCs, then why can't other businesses use the SRCs?" he asked during a Dec. 6 work session with the county's solid waste advisory board.

"There are a lot of small businesses in Jackson County," Denton continued. "We need to do something for them if other businesses are going to be allowed to use the SRCs."

Denton's comments led to the second change in the ordinance, which says "small businesses shall be allowed to dispose of small amounts of commercial waste generated from their own business operations in accordance with bagging and identification procedures established by the Jackson County Solid Waste Board."

"Will someone define what a 'small amount of commercial waste' is?" county attorney Raymond Large asked.

"No," said county Manager Ken Westmoreland, who went on to explain that officials with GDS, the Hendersonville-based company that hauls waste from the SRCs to the Macon County landfill, have agreed to monitor how much commercial waste is being left at the SRCs.

If it's a small amount and it is not taken advantage of, then GDS has agreed to allow the commercial waste, even though commercial waste is specifically prohibited at SRCs in GDS's contract with the county, Westmoreland said.

"If the system is abused, we can go back and change it," Commissioner Conrad Burrell said. "As long as it works, I don't see anything wrong with it."

To Chairman Denton's question about how enforcement of the ordinance would occur and when operating procedures would be finalized, Westmoreland said such details would be worked out prior to the ordinance's effective date of April 1.

As stated, the purpose of the solid waste management ordinance is to protect human health and the environment by regulating the storage, collection, transportation, reuse, recycling and disposal of solid waste. It is also designed to provide environmentally-sound, cost-efficient solid waste reuse, recycling and disposal and to provide for safe operations and minimization use of the Macon County landfill.

The ordinance also calls for the establishment of the Jackson County Solid Waste Board, which will be charged with making recommendations to the board of commissioners concerning ways to reduce the economic, environmental and social burdens of solid waste disposal; provide long-range plans for disposition of solid waste; and make the operation of the solid waste system more responsive to the citizens, the document says.

Membership on the new board will be assigned as follows: Each county commissioner will make an appointment; each incorporated town will make an appointment; and a representative from both Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College will be included. County commissioners may remove individuals from the solid waste board at any time without cause by a majority vote.

Though discussed early on, mandatory recycling is not included in the approved ordinance. Regulations for SRCs are still to be developed. Another provision discussed but not approve was that of "pay-as-you-throw," which would require a per bag fee for garbage, but not recycling, left at an SRC.

The ordinance calls for the possibility of both civil and criminal penalties to be assessed against those who are found in violation of the established rules. A criminal fine of $500, 30 days in jail or community service could be assessed, the ordinance says.

Back to Archive: 12/27/01.