Robbinsville – Those who have eagerly anticipated the opportunity to weigh in on recent changes to the county’s eight sanitation centers can now circle a date on their calendar.
Amid a flurry of budget sessions that week, the Graham County Board of Commissioners will block off a 5 p.m., time slot Thursday, May 16, to hear from community residents about how to best move forward with changes to the current structure of the convenience sites.
Residents were seemingly caught off-guard when five of the eight locations in the county were shuttered Jan. 1, in a move that both the sanitation department and the commissioners had discussed for months. Three sites – the main center just outside the city limits off Snowbird Road, as well as locations in East Buffalo and Stecoah – were kept open, but shifted to a schedule that saw the sites manned and locked after operating hours were over.
The county opted to downsize in an effort to reduce both costs and abuse at the centers, which were often at overflow capacity with debris that should have been discarded at the central location. Looters also frequented the dumpsters, pillaging through refuse in a manner most un-sanitary.
But the firestorm that erupted in the days immediately after the Jan. 1 closures led to roughly 50 citizens showing up at the Jan. 23 commissioner meeting to air their grievances with the changes.
The board relented late in the meeting, reverting back to opening the unmanned locations after several residents said they would pitch in at the Bear Creek, Brooks Cove, Gladdens Creek, Meadow Branch and Snowbird centers to keep trash under control. It was estimated that the pivot cost the county $150,000.
Soon after the re-opening, violators quickly began showing signs of what brought the county to make the original decision to close most sites. The biggest issue seems to be at the Bear Creek location, which catches traffic from residents in nearby Cherokee County that do not want to pay to haul off their trash – a system not currently in place in Graham.
The sudden change back to unmanned sites even caught the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality off-guard. A chance visit to the county in March resulted in a letter being sent to the county about the matter, with threats of fines being levied if the trash sites continued to experience such lawlessness.
Today, only the Brooks Cove location remains without dumpsters. Before the removal, wildlife on the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park often terrorized the sites and fencing on the perimeter; in turn, the Town of Fontana Dam has been discussing outsourcing trash removal, and placing containers elsewhere in the village to service both the resort and Brooks Cove residents.
High praise is being heaped on the manned sites, as one resident thanked the county at Tuesday’s board meeting for the measures taken at the Stecoah/Johnson Gap center off N.C. Highway 28.
“You made the right call,” said the resident. “It is as clean as a pin. Women aren’t scared to go there. I appreciate it, and I think everyone in Tuskeegee and Stecoah appreciates it.”
Other news & notes
* EMS director Brian Stevens asked permission to abandon a contract in place with Northwestern Emergency Vehicles, as the company is unable to guarantee delivery of a pair of ambulances ordered prior to September 2025. There is no penalty for nixing the deal; the commissioners gave Stevens unanimous support to void the order. Instead, Stevens has found a pair of “demo” ambulances from Atlantic Emergency Solutions that could arrive in Graham County between July-August. “If we wait, we’ll be in big trouble,” Stevens told the board.
* During Jason Marino’s county projector manager report, Marino said everything was still on-track for delivery and installation of bleachers at Modeal Walsh Memorial (Big Oaks) Stadium in time for May 25’s Robbinsville High School graduation.
Marino also touted the progress made on a pair of neighborhood revitalization projects off both Mountain Creek and Cotton Tail Lane, made possible by CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding. A pair of dilapidated homes are being torn down and rebuilt as part of the project, with both targeted for August completions.
* Discussion items included the board approving the purchase of a 2024 Ford Escape for the Graham County Senior Center’s “Meals on Wheels” program, at the price tag of $34,278.39. The new vehicle will help the center expand the reach of the program.