Rural trash pickup halted – Move impacts 13 businesses

A total of 13 Warren County businesses located in outlying areas are facing a major dilemma after Allied Waste Services, formerly BFI, informed them they are no longer picking up their trash.

A number of other businesses in the county will reportedly still receive the service.

‘They have discontinued dumpster service in the rural areas of the county,’ said Cumberland Caverns manager Kris Beckwith. ‘Right here where we’re located, we lost ours, the rock quarry lost theirs, and Collins River Reserve lost theirs.’

Beckwith says he has been unable to find another company to collect his trash, creating a significant problem.

Commercial waste is prohibited at county convenience centers, and there is only one local company, Southern Central, that will accept trash from businesses. But since this company is geared toward more industrial-type customers, Beckwith says it is not really a viable option for smaller businesses.

‘Southern Central will provide the large open-top, construction-type containers, but they have a massive cost, and the worst thing about them is they’re open top,’ Beckwith said. ‘So you end up having a huge mess.’

The situation has left the local tourist attraction with no way to handle its trash without incurring considerable expense, and Beckwith has turned to county government for assistance.

‘I have contacted the county,’ Beckwith said, ‘and have talked with them a little bit, back and forth, and they have set a meeting for Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. in the Magnolia Room of the County Administration Building to specifically address this issue, and to see if the county can do anything to help these folks. We want to get the message out to the community that if they’ve lost this service, to come to this meeting.’

County Executive John Pelham is aware of the situation, and is working to help find alternative sources, but has met with little success so far.

‘We know this is a problem and we’re working on it,’ Pelham said. ‘We want to do everything we can to help these businesses.’

Pelham contacted Allied Waste Services and was told the company had dropped service to 75 businesses in the 20-county region it serves in an effort to consolidate its routes to save on fuel and other costs. A company representative subsequently told Beckwith that one of the reasons for the cutbacks is TDOT sets limits on the number of hours drivers can spend on the road, and since the company currently has only one driver to service this part of its business, the outlying areas were dropped, in part, to make more efficient use of his time.

Beckwith says he understands business decisions have to be made, but this doesn’t help with his problem.

‘There is no other dumpster service options,’ Beckwith said. ‘I have explored everything I know to explore. And I’m not upset with anyone, I’m just looking for some help here. We’ve got to get rid of this trash.’

Another frustrating aspect of the problem is that there are county-operated convenience centers nearby where he could conceivably take his trash.

‘But legally I can’t do that,’ Beckwith said, ‘because I’m a business.’

Beckwith was told the county might allow this on a temporary basis, but he says this solution presents problems as well.

‘Yes, I could take it to the Fairview convenience center over there,’ Beckwith said. ‘But that means I have to have a vehicle, I have to have insurance on that vehicle, and an insured driver to drive the vehicle.’

Obviously this would represent a considerable expense for the business for what amounts to a temporary solution at best, since no one is suggesting the county would be willing to take commercial waste on a permanent basis.

‘And the truth is, I don’t really want to get in the garbage-hauling business,’ Beckwith added.

Small business garbage has been a controversial issue for many years in the county with the Sanitation Department saying there is no way it could handle all the commercial waste from county businesses, while smaller business owners note they actually pay more taxes than homeowners but aren’t allowed to use county facilities.

At least one small business owner, Gary Prater of Prater’s Barbecue, who also happens to be a county commissioner, thinks he might have a solution.

‘I’d be willing to pay to use the convenience centers here in Morrison,’ Prater said. ‘And I think other businesses would too.’

Beckwith agrees.

‘We’re not asking for anything free here,’ Beckwith said. ‘We’d be willing to pay a reasonable price for this service if the county could find a way to provide it.’

And Beckwith feels there is another issue here, recruiting new business.

‘Not only is it a predicament for us,’ Beckwith said. ‘If you’ve got a business that’s looking to locate in the county here and they find they can’t get rid of their trash easily, then that’s a real turn-off. So it’s not just an issue for us, it’s also an issue for new business that could potentially be coming into the community.’