April 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
If you are among those wanting the county to re-open the garbage collection convenience sites on Sundays, don’t get your hopes up too high.
During a meeting of the county public works committee Tuesday night, County Mayor Matt Adcock said he stands by the decision he made last fall to close the sites on Sundays and members of the committee and the county commission as a whole may be powerless to change the policy even if they want to.
After a one-hour meeting hearing from proponents and opponents of the policy, the committee attempted a vote on a recommendation to leave the policy as is for now but realized that it may be a moot point.
County Mayor Adcock said he has the authority to make the policy unilaterally and doesn’t intend to change it. Even if the county commission could legally override the County Mayor’s decision, the public works committee could have only voted to make a recommendation to the full commission for a vote.
The new policy took effect October 30, 2022 under which all the county’s garbage collection convenience sites are now open Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. but closed all day on Sundays. At the time, Adcock said he decided to change the hours to give the 24 part time employees who man the convenience sites Sundays off and to bring more uniformity to the operating hours during the week. Each of the employees work 27 hours per week.
During the regular monthly meeting in March, concerned resident and businessman Robin Driver addressed the county commission in the public comment period asking that the action be reconsidered. Driver, a local realtor and operator of vacation rentals, said keeping the convenience sites closed on Sundays poses a burden especially on vacation homeowners at Center Hill Lake who have no place to take their garbage during weekend retreats.
“Since you have passed the ordinance to close the dump sites down (Sundays), myself or my staff have received calls from people wanting to know where do we take our trash? These dump sites have been open on Sundays for many, many years and I have no idea what the reason was for closing them. I am very concerned that this is going to cause a huge problem. The vast majority of these people come here and stay the weekend and then they leave to go home. When they leave on Sundays, they need some place to take their trash. If you or I have to wait until Monday, it’s not a big deal. We can let it set there for an extra day. These folks are not going to let it (garbage) set in these vacation homes for a week until they are back the next week. I am here to ask you to reconsider your position on the trash situation,” said Driver.
During that meeting in March some county commissioners asked that the public works committee meet with the county mayor to discuss the issue in more detail. That was the purpose for the meeting of the public works committee Tuesday night. Members of that committee are county commissioners Myron Rhody (Chairman), Timothy Reynolds (Vice Chairman), Tony Luna, Tom Chandler, Tony Culwell, Glynn Merriman, and Justin Adcock.
As the meeting began, County Mayor Adcock defended his position and cited reasons for making the changes.
“When considering the pros and cons of the convenience sites being closed on Sundays, the only con I can think of is it being an inconvenience to the people wanting to dispose of their trash on Sundays but most counties around us are not open on Sundays,” said Adcock.
“As for the pros, “when the sites are closed on Sundays it prevents people from other counties where sites are also closed from dumping in our convenience sites. This saves us money from not having to use our funds to dispose of their trash and from dumps getting too full for our citizens to dispose of their trash”.
“The transfer station is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. It is run by a company called Capital Waste. They transport trash from our county to the landfill in Dayton, Tennessee. It is hard enough to stay open (convenience sites) on Saturdays due to this. The trash accumulated (over a weekend) must wait until Monday before it can be shipped out. Capital Waste does several counties and they are closed on weekends at all counties,” Adcock continued.
“Overflowing dumpsters is a huge problem. Before we changed to the new schedule, staying open on weekend days with nowhere to ship the trash caused significant overfilling of our dumpsters. Our citizens were being turned away from convenience sites because the dumpsters were too full”.
“This new schedule gives equal hours of opportunity and now the convenience site workers all get the same 27 hours a week which is just shy of the maximum they can earn before losing their social security benefits. Now every employee gets the same number of hours to ensure fairness. They all get to keep their social security benefits and they all get the maximum 54 hours per pay period,” said County Mayor Adcock.
“Every convenience site worker has one day that they are for sure going to get off without worrying about being called in. They can use that time to spend with their families, go to church, or simply take a day of rest, or whatever they desire. It is fair, reasonable and easy to accommodate. I think they deserve Sundays off”.
“When I came into office the biggest problem we had was overflowing dumpsters. People were always complaining about dumpsters overflowing and them getting turned away from the dumpsters and not being able to dump their trash so we opened it up to a 9-6 schedule for persons working 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts so that when people got off work it would be easier for them to take their garbage off later in the evening. Some do like to take it off in the morning before going to work but we can’t accommodate for everybody. You’d have to keep it open 24 hours, seven days a week to accommodate for everybody so I made an executive decision on what was the best decision and the best convenience for the most people affected, and I felt like this schedule met that accommodation. I would like to stand behind that decision,” Adcock said.
James Goff, Solid Waste Department Director, raised another concern.
“The state permit for this transfer station does not allow for open storage on the property. It (garbage) has to be processed into a trailer, covered, and staged. What some are requesting is to go grab the cans and bring them back, but our state permit does not allow that because Class 1 material has to be processed. Capital Waste does not work on Saturdays and their contracted trucking company does not operate on Saturdays. We currently don’t have the ability to process the material to meet the state guidelines (over the weekend) because it (garbage) cannot sit and we don’t have the 10,15, 20, 30 or whatever is needed (open top containers) to swap out for a Saturday or Sunday which would be more costly. We just do not have the equipment to fill up and put to the side (over weekend) until it is processed on Monday and having 15 to 20, or 30 cans sitting to the side on a Sunday and open to the atmosphere, animals, etc. is something the state just doesn’t allow. That’s a bigger hurdle to get across than to say lets open this up (Sundays) and check license tags,” said Goff.
Former county commissioner Jack Barton, who attended the meeting expressed a concern.
“My question is were there transfers of cans on the weekends before you (County Mayor Adcock) came into office? I worry about going to the Snow Hill site by 10:30 or 11 a.m. and finding all the cans are full. I get off work at Cookeville at 4 p.m. so I could never go to the transfer station. I have come by the site on Highway 56 and found every can was full. I worry about the concept of keeping the sites closed on Sundays and how you combat the cans being full. There is a difference between people being turned away and the cans being full and people can’t dump their trash. If the schedule is for the sites to be closed on Sundays they are closed, but I want to be able to go on Saturdays or Mondays and be able to dump trash (without the cans being full),” said Barton.
In response to Barton’s question, County Mayor Adcock said “I was told by employees who worked there that the trash (prior to my administration) set in the parking lot of the transfer station until Mondays and most were at the convenience sites and not picked up and that is the reason they were filling up. We found out later that we could have been fined (by the state) for it. I don’t think we were ever fined but it was a possibility that it could have happened,” said County Mayor Adcock.
Committee Chairman Rhody also pointed out that prior to the opening of the transfer station several years ago, the county did haul garbage on Sundays when the landfill was still in existence.
Some county commissioners, including public works Committee Chairman Rhody say re-opening the sites on Sunday is something many county residents want.
“I am getting it (calls) every day,” said Rhody.
County Mayor Adcock and committee member Glynn Merriman, among others, see it differently.
“I have talked to a lot of people at the car lot (Merriman’s business) and I have asked them about it,” said Merriman. “They are used to the sites being closed on Sundays and say it’s a good thing. I have had one person email me wanting them to be open on Sundays. Most people I have talked to are good with it. Everybody likes being off on Sunday. I like being off on Sunday. Why should we make them (convenience site employees) work on Sunday,” asked Merriman.
“The majority of the people I have talked to are in favor of keeping the sites closed on Sundays,” added Adcock.
Although he was unable to attend the meeting, Robin Driver sent a letter renewing his call for re-opening the sites on Sundays.
“Following my address at the County Commission meeting (March) I have been inundated with feedback from concerned citizens. Over 150 individuals have contacted me via email and phone call expressing their desire to revert to the previous trash collection schedule”. Driver also cited a recent online poll by WJLE which showed participants favoring the Sunday re-opening of the sites by a wide margin. “It is clear to me that the residents of DeKalb County have spoken, and I urge the committee to take this feedback into account when considering any changes to the current system” wrote Driver.
Re-opening the convenience sites on Sundays, according to Adcock, would also add costs to the solid waste budget which is already struggling to make ends meet. “Just keeping it open on Sundays, one more day of operation at our sites, would be a salary increase of $67,173. That’s how much it would cost on salaries alone to keep it open and there are other costs. We’re having so much of a population increase that its hard to dispose of the trash we are already having to dispose of. Our budget (for Capital Waste to transport garbage to Dayton) is $82,000 per month but its now costing us up to $115,000 per month. If we open them up on Sundays and all the other counties remain closed on Sundays, their residents will come here, and we would have to pay for that disposal too”.
Rhody offered an idea.
“Why not get them (convenience site workers) all together in a group meeting and ask them if they would be willing to work a weekend shift on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, while the others could work Monday to Thursday,” asked Rhody. “That way as far as the money, the only thing going to increase would be the amount of trash. You wouldn’t increase the payroll because they would all be working at different times”.
Another issue, according to County Mayor Adcock is policing who can dump at the convenience sites from other counties, a problem he said would only become greater if the sites were reopened on Sundays. That led to the following exchange between Adcock and committee member Tony Luna.
“What if somebody comes with a Rutherford County license tag to dispose of trash and we tell them they can’t do it and then we learn they have a vacation home here,” asked Adcock.
“That is super easy to fix. Ask them to bring an electric bill that shows they are from this county and that takes care of that,” replied Luna.
Surrounded by convenience site workers in attendance at the committee meeting, County Mayor Adcock responded “Ask these guys if they have time to check your electric bill when they have a line of cars stacked up trying to come through to dump their trash”.
“I’m talking about one day a week,” answered Luna.
“Sunday is the busiest day because you would have people from five counties trying to dump their trash here”, Adcock replied.
“Then the quickest way would be for them to show an ID the first time and issue them a sticker to put on their car for the next time,” said Luna.
“It would take a while to implement something like that. Closing on Sunday is a better way to mitigate that without having to implement a sticker program,” said Adcock.
For lake home property managers and others, Mayor Adcock offered an alternative.
“If someone is a large property owner or manager of multiple properties, my recommendation would be for them to rent a dumpster such as the Four Seasons community has done and we can come and pick it up like we do all the others and dispose of their trash. For those who don’t have a property manager and live out in a rural area, take it (trash) back home (primary residence) and throw it away. I know every time I go camping on vacation in some area where they don’t have a convenience site or public trash cans to dispose of waste, I always take my trash back home with me and throw it away,” said Adcock.
“Why should we expect people (lake homeowners and rental properties) to take it (trash) to their county and dump it when it (garbage) is being generated from properties here that we are getting property taxes from coming into our county,” asked Committee Chairman Rhody. “I agree they should prove they have property here but its not fair for us to say to those from Rutherford or Davidson County you have to take your trash with you even though its accumulated in DeKalb County off property we’re drawing taxes from,” added Rhody.
“These people (lake homeowners) pay as much property taxes or more than a lot of other people,” said Luna.
“They just want a place to dump their trash when they leave. All they want is maybe the Snow Hill or Highway 56 site on their way out of town,” Luna added.
County Commissioner Larry Green, who attended the meeting, asked if the committee would consider a compromise.
“How about if we open dumpsters Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., close them on Fridays and empty out the dumpsters and then open from 1 to 5 on Sundays and 1 to 5 on Mondays?”
“There would still be no staff at the transfer station on Saturdays and Sundays,” said County Mayor Adcock.
“You wouldn’t need them on Saturday and Sunday for that (transfer station) if you empty the cans on Fridays,” replied Green.
“If you operate on Saturdays and Sundays you will accumulate trash for two days with the transfer station not operating,” said Adcock.
During the meeting, committee member Tom Chandler made a motion that the group recommend that Adcock’s policy be left as is for now. A second was offered to the motion. Chairman Rhody then attempted to take a vote by a show of hands of committee members when County Mayor Adcock reminded the Chairman that the policy was an executive decision made by him.
“Then we don’t need a vote because its not going to change,” said Rhody.
“My purpose in making the motion I did was that if this committee were to vote that we should consider opening them (sites) on Sunday then we can have this discussion but if the majority of this committee is going to vote to leave things the way they are there is no point in any further discussion about it,” said Chandler.
“There’s no point anyway. Its Matt’s call,” said Committee Vice Chairman Tim Reynolds. “He oversees the daily operation and if he says to leave it closed on Sunday its his call and he will take any backlash for it.” added Reynolds.
“The problem is now we (county commissioners) are getting multiple calls (from the public)” said Luna.
“If somebody calls you (county commissioners/committee members) in reference to the sites being closed on Sunday, you tell them to call me at the county mayor’s office and I will talk to them as long as they want,” said County Mayor Adcock.
Meanwhile, questions were raised about why some residents are being asked when they arrive at a convenience site to take their household garbage directly to the transfer station where they are charged a fee for disposal.
Snow Hill resident Mike Antoniak said his son recently had that experience with the county after he did some spring cleaning. Antoniak said people of this county pay taxes for this service and charging them now for it amounts to another tax.
“The reason some are diverted from a convenience site to the transfer station is because they have commercial or industry trash. We require them to pay for the disposal of that. For example, if you are a contractor and built a new deck and remodeled a house, all the garbage from that needs to be disposed of at the transfer station” said County Mayor Adcock.
On the residential side, Adcock explained that “we have an adequate residential trash policy that determines what is an adequate amount of trash for a resident to dispose of (free of charge) at one time. The reason we had to do this is because some people would clean out an entire barn or workshop and fill a (convenience site) dumpster completely full in one trip. When that happens, it hurts the rest of the community,” said Adcock.
“Do you have guidelines on what is a manageable amount of trash,” asked Antoniak. “I used to wait until my truck was filled up (bags of trash) maybe a month before I would take it up there (convenience site). What is a manageable amount of trash?”
“We have a policy for that” said Adcock.
“Where is it”? “Is it on the county website” asked Antoniak.
“No but we can put it on there” replied Adcock.
“If its more garbage than what the average household (3-5 people) would accumulate in one week, maybe 12-15 bags of trash (they would have to bring it to the transfer station)” Adcock explained.
“Do people realize they are going to have to pay when they go to the transfer station? This is a service we have had since I have lived here that’s a part of what we pay taxes for. He (son) was in a pickup truck, and he had cleaned around his yard. He had to pay $13 and that is not a lot of money, but it is the principle. We shouldn’t have to start paying to dump our trash” said Antoniak.
In the case of Antoniak’s son, Director Goff said he was sent to the transfer station because he had brought to the convenience site some shingles and wood, so a determination was made on site that what he had was more than just residential garbage.
“On one hand you say the convenience site workers would be overburdened with having to check license plates from other counties while saying they are going to have to determine who has too much garbage. You are saying they (workers) are too busy to do one thing but not the other,” said Antoniak.
Although the county’s adequate residential trash policy has been publicized by the local media, Antoniak and others at the meeting admonished the county mayor to post it on the county’s website to make the community more aware.
DeKalb County’s Solid Waste Department receives no local property tax dollars. The entire department is funded from a variety of other taxes including the county’s share of the state beer tax, wholesale beer tax, bank excise tax, state revenue sharing-TVA funds, a portion of the county’s local option sales tax, payments-in-lieu of taxes, and alcoholic beverage tax.