All garbage must be bagged. That’s the reminder from county officials who try to find solutions for the litter problem in the county while also maintaining an effective home garbage service.
In May, Doug Wiggins with Three Rivers Planning and Development who serves as the county’s solid waste director, informed the board of issues with a number of roadside potato boxes used as garbage bins in some areas of the county that are creating significant litter problems.
The board authorized him to send a letter to the problem homes asking for it to be cleaned up so it was not a nuisance or health hazard to the community. It’s a common complaint.
“There is actually no issue with the wooden crate itself, according to the Calhoun County Ordinance for Household Solid Waste. A wooden crate is actually considered an acceptable type of refuse container,” Wiggins said. “The issue that we had that was brought to the attention of the Board was there were some residents who had filled their crate with loose garbage. This loose garbage is the issue. The loose, unbagged garbage is a health risk to the waste collection employees who might come in contact with it. The loose garbage also often gets blown by the wind. It becomes scattered along the road way and often even blows on to neighboring private property.”
The county ordinance allows the board of supervisors to take various actions against residents who don’t adhere to garbage pickup requirements including additional fees, preventing the purchase of a motor vehicle license tag, or even a civil suit against the property owner.
“The boxes are fine,” Board President Barney Wade said, “as long as all the garbage is bagged. Otherwise, it creates more litter and we already have enough of that. We ought to be litter free, but we’re not.”
Another issue with the wooden bins, however, is animals being able to get access, even if the garbage is bagged. The ordinance encourages the use of some kind of bin to help keep animals out, but also requires it not be too deep so that sanitation workers can quickly reach in and remove all bagged garbage.
Doug Wiggins
Among the most common requests from citizens in the county is garbage carts, like those used in Bruce and Calhoun City.
“Garbage carts are a very effective tool. They are air tight when the lid is closed and can help with odor, and also they are very effective in keeping animals from getting into the garbage and scattering it around,” Wiggins said. “Some entities choose to use carts and some do not. It is basically based on the operation and personal preference.”
The deterrent for the county has been the cost of providing the carts. Wiggins said based on a recent estimate for another county, the carts would cost the county $57.50 a piece.
“That includes cost of the cart and the company distributing the carts to each active residential account in the county,” Wiggins said. “So based on 5,198 residential accounts at $57.50, it would be $298,885 just to purchase the carts.”
Wade and Wiggins both agreed that would require an increase in the monthly garbage fee for county residents of up to $2.
“We’ve always been concerned about the cost to the homeowners,” Wade said. “The board has tried to keep the garbage costs down and stay in the black.”
Calhoun County’s current monthly rate of $11 is in the middle range for pricing of the counties in the Three Rivers region. Union and Pontotoc County both charge $10 a month. Lafayette County is $12, Lee County is $12.50, Monroe and Itawamba are $13.
“We’re fortunate to be able to work with the sheriff’s department and utilize inmate labor as garbage workers,” Wade said. “If we had to go hire workers that would substantially increase our costs.”
Carts can be purchased by individual homeowners to use themselves, but the garbage must still be bagged inside. The typical retail cost of the carts similar to what Bruce and Calhoun City have is near $100.
“I hear both sides,” Wade said. “I know a lot of people want the carts, but there are a lot of others who don’t and are more demanding that we keep the price down. We do the best we can.”
There would be additional cost if the county was to install cart tippers on the trucks to keep workers from having to reach into them and possibly alleviate the need for all garbage to be bagged. Wiggins said that
Barney Wade
initial set up would cost the county near $40,000.
A cart tipper was installed on county trucks initially when Bruce and Calhoun City went to the carts. But garbage trucks wear out every few years and have to be replaced. As new trucks came into circulation, garbage crews reverted to just pulling the bags out of the carts by hand.
Wiggins works with seven different counties through Three Rivers. Three of those use carts and four don’t.
“Each county I work with has different needs, and different amounts of funds available to work with,” he said.
Currently, Calhoun County services 3,106 county residents, and Three Rivers handles the billing for these accounts.
The county also picks up garbage for three municipalities – Bruce, 976 customers; Calhoun City, 696; and Derma, 420. These three towns do their own billing to the customer and pay the county for their collection and disposal. Vardaman contracts with an out-of-county service for their garbage pickup.
All total, the county serves 5,198 residential customers and 133 commercial accounts.