County considers solid waste fine

The Houston County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday evening and discussed a proposal from solid waste management that includes implementing a fee for residents who fail to comply.

Terry Dietsch, landfill superintendent, said the county is having issues with some residents who are placing solid waste out for pick up who are either putting out items that cannot be picked up or not placing items in the correct way the solid waste ordinance calls for.

Some examples Dietsch gave for items that cannot be picked up, are/were household items, tires, construction debris, fencing with nails. Dietsch said items that can be picked up, such as yard debris, is not a problem until residents don’t properly bag leaves or have logs that are bigger than eight inches in diameter.

“If the piles of solid waster are not compliant with our contractor, then after a while, the county ends up having to go and pick it up, which is costly,” Dietsch said. “These piles sit out there for weeks, and neighbors suffer. We’re asking and proposing a fee where we can charge if the county has to go out and get it. Of course, we don’t want to really do that because we want to try and work with the residents as much as we can. But some situations are getting to the point where some are completely ignoring the concerns.”

Dietsch went on to propose that they do not want to just resort to a fee, but more so develop a process. That process would include first marking the noncompliant piles. After a week, the county would then mail a letter, notice of warning, which would give the residents two additional weeks to correct the matter. Dietsch said if residents don’t comply after sending the notice of warning, the residents would be charged a fee of $125 for the county to come and pick it up.

“The fee would be $125 per load,” Dietsch said. “We then propose if they do not pay the fee that it would be automatically included on their next utility bill, which of course, includes both your water and sanitation services.”

Commissioners agreed to move forward with the proposal. Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said the proposed amendment to the solid waste ordinance would first have to be advertised, and then two public hearings would have to take place. County Attorney Tom Hall said within the next week or so, they will submit the advertisement to begin.

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