The topic of garbage being dumped at the Sweetwater garage resurfaced during the City of Sweetwater’s monthly workshop on Monday, March 25.
Sweetwater Mayor Doyle Lowe stated the topic had been brought up in the previous workshop before he passed the discussion to Sweetwater Street Commissioner Joanna Jinks.
“We have kind of come up with a few different options … Obviously you can just increase the landfill budget, we think about $25,000 increase a year and just keep things as is,” Jinks noted. “We could increase how much we charge SUB (Sweetwater Utilities Board) for the chips and stuff that they bring into us, but they do a lot for this city that they don’t charge us for so we don’t feel that would be the best route to go.”
Another option presented was for them to start charging by load and limiting the hours.
“We recommend that we shut down the ability for citizens to bring their trash to the city garage and to the dump,” Jinks expressed. “For both places we are asking for a gate and we feel that it would be best suited if every person leaves their trash at the side of the road (of their residence). That will increase how much is at the side of the road, but it will also help our guys monitor which locations they have picked up from.”
She noted that along with the regular trash pickup, each home receives one extra free curbside pickup per month, however any further piles of garbage — such as dry wall, mattresses, etc. — then require a person to go to city hall and pay for those loads to be picked up. Each additional load of garbage over the one free load costs $50.
“We also think it would be smart if we put up cameras at the gate for the dump,” she noted. “If people were to dump their garbage at the gate then we will have the cameras that would allow us to share images of the individual’s license plate with (Sweetwater Police Chief) Eddie (Byrum). We feel that this would be the best option.”
Lowe questioned Jinks about the exact purpose the gates would serve.
“We will put the gates at the beginning of the city garage and even at the road that goes into the dump so that you can’t get into the actual garage,” she stated. “SUB and the streets department, and others that use the garage. would have remote access to the garage so the gate would make it to where you cannot go any farther than the gate into the city garage and the dump except for those who have access to it.”
Sweetwater City Recorder Jessica Morgan noted they recently had an incident where someone had gone to the garage and filled an entire dumpster with trash.
“We have to pay for that and it is $200 each time they have to come over and empty it and then we have to pay the weight cost of whatever was in the dumpster,” Morgan noted. “In the month of January alone we had $10,000 in costs from the garage from dumping dumpsters.”
Jinks noted they would be working with city code enforcement, the city police department and anyone else necessary to make sure this transition happens as seamlessly as possible.