Robbinsville – Following the announcement of a $1.4 million sanitation grant that will benefit Graham County, the board of commissioners welcomed input during a public hearing Friday.
After an introduction from board chair Meggan Smith, Graham County Manager Brady Cody summarized the preliminary ideas for the money. Acquired through the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Helene Recovery Recycling Infrastructure Grant Program, the county will have access to the funding at the start of the upcoming fiscal year (July 1).
No match will be required at the county level.
"The goal is to almost start the recycling program from the ground up; kind of re-envision what we do," Cody said. "The benefit of that is, it's recycling – but it also impacts sanitation."
The largest improvement will be the installation of a 90-by-100 feet, pre-engineered metal building at the Graham County Sanitation Center. Additionally, the grant will pay for costs associated with revamping the parking lot at the convenience center off Snowbird Road – something local residents have brought to commissioners as a point of concern in the past.
The project will also include a complete overhaul of the current recycling system. Thanks to the grant, compactors will be installed at each transfer station to collect mixed recyclables – both increasing efficiency when the items are hauled off and reducing the number of trips needed for transport. A new roll-off truck will be utilized to service the recycling compactors.
"Doing it this way turns recycling from a dead cost to actually generating revenue," Cody explained. "If you compact it and haul it to recycling centers, they will pay you for the materials. That will create ongoing revenue, which will help (the) sanitation (department) be more self-sufficient."
Another new item is a cardboard baler at the Graham County Sanitation Center, which will collect and process the cardboard that is collected from across the county. Three trailers will also be set aside specifically for the collection of waste tires.
Feedback
After opening the floor for discussion with the public, around 25 local residents offered a wide array of suggestions for eliminating sanitation-related costs:
* Graham County Sanitation Director Gavin Colvard said that $221,718 is currently being spent to keep sites open – much of which goes to employee pay. The idea of a surveillance system was pitched, with the added bonus of the centers now being locked at night upon closing. Opening sites on a staggered, part-time schedule throughout the week was also proposed;
* Residents asked for the county to adopt a new ordinance that will fine and/or prosecute anyone that is caught trespassing at a site; illegal dumps at one of the locations; or vandalizes a facility. Commissioners appeared to be receptive of the idea to revise the existing ordinance and work with the Graham County Sheriff's Office to catch offenders and prosecute through a civil process;
* Monitoring and charging out-of-county residents by reading vehicle tags was discussed;
* Utilizing county inmates to run the centers was also pitched, which would eliminate manning the sites with employees.
Colvard punctuated the decision to begin limiting full-time access to the sanitation sites, which began last year after a visit from a Department of Environmental Quality inspector led to a letter being issued to the county with a threat of daily, five-figure fines if the matter was not immediately addressed.
"We can't go backwards," Colvard said. "If it's anything but bagged garbage in a dumpster, it's a fine.
"We've got to close the gate."
The hearing can be viewed on The Graham Star's YouTube channel.