County Opens New Solid Waste Convenience Center
At Bob's Landing
February 8th, 2005
A recent grant provides
a much-needed solid waste convenience center for a portion of Bath Springs
and immediate area. County crews have finished construction on a new Solid
Waste Convenience Center near the County landfill entrance on Bobs Landing
Rd. The new convenience center was opened Wednesday, February 8. Several
community residents were present for the event. County Mayor, Kenneth
Broadway, County Commissioners Danny Pope and Dan Brigance of the 1st
District were on hand.
The newly opened center has a new, current state-of-the-art solid waste
compactor installed, with capability to compact up to fourteen tons of
solid waste into a compatible container and is much more sanitary than the
previously used open dumpsters. The new center will serve several miles
surrounding the landfill location, accommodating hundreds of citizens.
Residents of the community expressed gratitude and appreciation for the
long awaited facility. Prior to the new center opening, residents were
required to commute several miles to the nearest convenience center.
New compactors are already installed in
convenience centers at Jeanette and County Fairground. The remaining two
centers to be upgraded (Mt. Lebanon and Wylie Garner) will receive new
compactors within approx. two to three weeks. Mayor Broadway stressed two
major points concerning the new center at Bobs Landing Rd. First it will
provide a much needed service to residents of that community and
surrounding area. Secondly, due to its location near the land fill
entrance, transporting solid waste from the new center to the landfill is
expected to be very minimal.
Transporting solid waste from convenience centers to the County landfill
costs approx. $26 per ton, with the previous open dumpster system. When
the new system is in full operation at all convenience centers, the
average cost is expected to drop to around three dollars per ton, saving
approx. $150,000.00 annually with increased savings in coming years. The
two trucks, previously used for transporting solid waste in open
dumpsters, carried approx. one ton per trip. With the new compactor
containers, up to fourteen tons can be transported to the landfill by the
new container transporter per trip.
Upgrading the four original centers with new compactors, constructing and
equipping the new Bobs Landing center, plus the new container transporter
is all made available from a $200,000.00 grant from The Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation. The total project will be
completed without additional tax burden to the County.
Currently, over seven thousand tons of solid waste is generated into our
convenience centers each year. Due to a contractual agreement between the
County and Waste Services of America in 1996, there is no fee for dumping
residential waste into the landfill. This is an additional huge savings
for Decatur County residents. Additionally, the County Solid Waste Fund
receives approximately $200 thousand revenue from the landfill annually.
The landfill generates approximately three million dollars into Decatur
County’s annual economy through fees received, salaries for employees,
plus expenditures for materials and services in the County.
Back To County News -
Index
