Dueling presentations of the garbage situation
Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County Commission’s decision to close the walk-in gate at the Lloyd collection site for a period of 30 days and put roll-off boxes at some of the locations sparked a lively exchange among the officials recently.
During which exchange Commissioner Betsy Barfield accused two of her colleagues of inconsistency, playing unfair, and violating the unspoken rule of not interfering in another commissioner’s district.
“I think it’s unfair,” Barfield told Commissioners J. T. Surles and Chris Tuten at one point. “You guys are picking the winners and losers.”
The exchange followed dueling presentations on the effectiveness of the changes that the Solid Waste Department has implemented at the various collection sites in an effort to reduce both the cost of disposal and the amount of garbage going to the landfill.
One presentation, by Paul Henry, a citizen, essentially argued that the changes in actuality were costing the county more than it was saving.
The counterargument from Solid Waste Department Director Beth Letchworth was that the changes were both significantly reducing the garbage tonnage and the cost of disposal.
Specifically triggering the commissioners’ exchange was Letchworth’s proposal, which Surles and Tuten supported, that the gate at the Lloyd collection site be closed for 30 days to test what effect it would have on the garbage disposal situation there.
Letchworth acknowledged that Lloyd was the county’s busiest site, based on the count of vehicles driving through the location during operational hours. But the figures, she said, did not include the many people who were entering the site by using the walk-through gate between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the site was closed.
It was her supposition that many of the walk-ins likely weren’t county residents, as they tended to park their vehicles off cameras so that their license plates couldn’t be read. Also, it was during the closed hours (when no attendant was present) that old tires and other illegal trash were being dumped at the site, she said. It was Letchworth’s recommendation that the Lloyd site remained opened seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. but that the walk-through gate be locked.
Barfield immediately objected, saying that it wasn’t right or fair to the Lloyd-area residents who commuted to Tallahassee to be deprived of the walk-through gate. These residents, she said, paid the landfill tax and were entitled to dump garbage at their convenience.
“It’s unacceptable for us to limit the people going there,” Barfield said. “I need the gate to be opened. I think it’s unfair. Change the hours but leave the gate open.”
She argued that if the gate were closed, people would simply dump their trash outside the gate. And when residents complained about the closed gate, she would refer them to her colleagues, she said.
Surles and Tuten, however, remained adamant that the gate should be closed, saying that sites in their district also would be closed and that it was unacceptable to have illegal trash and garbage strewn everywhere when the attendant wasn’t present.
Surles offered a 30-day trial closure of the gate as a compromise, which seemed reasonable to the other commissioners, although Barfield still objected. Tuten then reinvigorated the discussion when he proposed putting roll-off boxes at four of the collection sites: Bassett Dairy, Fulford, Lamont and Wacissa.
Barfield again objected, calling it unfair that her colleagues were picking and choosing where to put the boxes.
“This is so dishonest,” Barfield said. “You’re going to close the gate at Lloyd and then you’re going to give roll-off boxes to four other sites but not Lloyd. Where is the consistency in all this? I’m asking that roll-off boxes be added to the Lloyd site.”
In the end, the board agreed to Barfield’s demand that a roll-off box be added to the Lloyd site. The board, however, held to the closure of the gate at Lloyd.
The board also followed Letchworth’s recommendation to close down the Pinckney collection site, based on the low volume of traffic going there, and also closing the Fulford site an additional day. The Fulford site will now be opened on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and it will be closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
In a nutshell, Henry’s lengthy and detailed presentation, which consisted of some 30-plus slides, essentially argued the county was paying more for the employees that were manning the collections sites than what it was saving on garbage disposal.
Among his proposed solutions to the garbage problem was for the county to post large signs at the entrance of each site threatening stiff fines for illegal dumping; rotate the current gatekeepers at the eight remote sites to create uncertainty for would-be-violators; and enter into an agreement with the Sheriff to investigate offenses as needed. Which, he said, would have a secondary benefit of enhancing law-enforcement pay.
Letchworth, in her presentation, showed figures indicating that during the last six months since the program’s implementation, the amount of garbage tonnage going to the landfill had been significantly reduced, as had the costs of disposal.