Solid Waste and the plan to handle it filled a large portion of the Thursday night meeting of the Cannon County Commission. For the second time in a week, an elected governing body filled the evening in discussion of a topic that was absent from the agenda.
Following the breakdown of the county compactor and entering the month without a hauling agreement in place, County Executive Brent Bush took action to handle solid waste dropped off at the center with a plan that did not require a compactor.
A freight box (the type that can be closed and carried on a truck was purchased (at a cost of $3,500.00). Citizens who drop off household trash and place the bags inside the freight box. When the box is filled, it can be carried away to MidPoint Landfill. A second freight box may be acquired in a few days.
The absence of a compactor removes the ability of the center to fulfill some duties as a transfer station. The use of a compactor does two things. Creates the opportunity of hauling larger loads (reducing the county’s costs) and removes the ability for the Town of Woodbury from unloading their sanitation trucks. For the Town of Woodbury to empty their collection trucks, a trip to MidPoint Landfill in Rutherford County is required.
During this past week, the Town of Woodbury has sent their sanitation trucks directly to MidPoint and Mayor Duggin sent the bill for the tipping fees to the county.
State regulations requires county government to accept household trash from their citizens. It does not require them to accept commercial or construction trash. Currently the Town of Woodbury does make routine stops at commercial locations. Since the ability of separating the contents of the trucks and the ability to transfer the contents into a compactor is no longer available, Cannon County is refusing the trucks into the convenience center.
Citizens of the Town of Woodbury are also citizens of the 5th County District. In last night’s meeting of the County Commission, the commission voted to refuse to pay the tipping fees covering the town deliveries of the past week. The vote was 9-1 with only Commissioner Karen Ashford voting for the payment, citing citizens of Woodbury are also citizens of the county.
Experts in the field of solid waste were in attendance from the Upper Cumberland Development District and State of Tennessee Department of Enviorment and Conservation and answered various questions. They indicated that the Convenience Center (with the grants recently awarded) was in a stage of re-birth as a convenience center only. Over a few years and the desire of local citizens it could be more.
Many persons in attendance spoke of a desire for the county and town to work together on the project.
No additional action was taken.
In action not dealing with trash, the following happened;
With the start of a new term of the Cannon County Commission, a few changes occurred. The commissioners elected County Executive Brent Bush to serve as chairman and Ronnie McHaffey, Jr. to serve a chairman pro-tem.
Several items on the agenda including the creation of a financial management committee, entering into an agreement with a Murfreesboro firm to assist the county into securing money that the county might have overlooked that is available was postponed until next month as new commissioners get up to speed on many of the items facing the board.
Commissioners approved numerous budget amendments for the Sheriff’s Department. The most notable ones were maintance and repair of vehicles, the purchase of four new vehicles and new surveillance cameras for the jail. All items are being funded without cost to the taxpayers. Fund for the projects were generated by the Sheriff’s Department Drug Fund.
