County considering solid waste, cell tower rules

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The date of a public hearing on the proposed solid waste management ordinance could be set tonight (Thursday) during the Jackson County Board of Commissioners' regular meeting. The 12-page document, including a "pay-as-you-throw" option, is available for review in the county manager's office at the Justice Center.

Changes to the proposal since last month's work session include more precise definitions for terms such as commercial and hazardous waste and a new section the requires private haulers to recycle customer-separated recyclables. Complaints have been voiced that some private haulers have been disposing of recyclables in the landfill contrary to the requests of their customers, officials said.

A controversial section that was not amended deals with the ordinance's requirement that private haulers not be allowed to dispose of household waste at the county's staffed recycling centers. In fact, new language proposed last week makes this requirement even clearer than in a previous version.

"The SRCs shall not accept commercial waste or residential waste transported by a private hauler," the document says.

Also in this section, the ordinance says private haulers will be required to obtain permits to operate, and that they must pay their own tipping fees at any landfill. Failure to comply with terms of the permit or the ordinance could result in suspension of a permit or criminal or civil penalties.

In the area of penalties, solid waste advisory board Chairman Maurice Moody requested that the county attorney review the ordinance's enforcement section prior to setting a public hearing date.

"The whole purpose here is to encourage people to comply, not to collect revenues," he said of fines that may be assessed to violators.

With a 90-day moratorium on cell tower construction approaching its end, county planning board members introduced commissioners to a new concept last week. Mickey Williams of Trigon Engineering Consultants explained that his firm specializes in administering cell tower ordinances at no cost to the county. They earn their income from an escrow account established when a tower company applies for a permit and pays the permit fee, which some counties have set at $8,500 for a new tower and slightly less for a co-location permit.

"The ordinance is half the battle," said planning board member Mark Jamison, who said internal administration of a cell tower ordinance would not be advisable. "The best ordinance in the world is not any good if you can't administer it."

A number of cell tower companies have expressed an interest in obtaining permits as soon as the moratorium expires, planning board Chairman Jack Debnam said. Anyone hired to administer a cell tower ordinance would need expertise in the field and may find themselves with little to do if demand for towers decreases, he said.

County planners will present their recommendations, which could include an request for an extension of the cell tower moratorium, at tonight's meeting.

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