Cherokee County’s government has closed garbage convenience sites in Bear Paw and Violet, and residents served by those facilities are upset.
The Cherokee County Solid Waste Department announced the closures online, and nearby residents were not consulted. It’s unclear from the public record what led to the decision, which took effect April 4.
Emails seeking more information from Board of Commissioners Chairman Cal Stiles and 5th District Commissioner Jan Griggs, in whose district both closed convenience centers were located, were not answered. The concept of remotely located convenience sites was to discourage illegal dumping by providing a convenient and legal alternative.
The county’s maintenance and Solid Waste Department websites announced the April 4 closures of the Bear Paw and Violet “green box” sites, which were located on rented land.
“Taking it away will not make the problem go away,” said John Mason, a property owner affected by the closures who sought help from the commission. “It will make it worse.”
County officials say they are open to the idea of someone donating land for new convenience sites, but the old sites were costing the county too much money, and that the sites were being abused.
Abuses range from dumping garbage near but not inside containers, or dumping construction debris and other items not allowed at convenience sites. The sites have also been vandalized.
Residents argue that most of them abide by the rules and say they are being punished for the actions of a few. They worry that more people will dump their waste into the woods and waterways rather than take the longer drive to the next nearest convenience site.
Bear Paw area residents were advised to use the convenience site at 20 Candy Mountain Road. Violet area residents were advised to use the convenience site at 357 Texana Road.
“After that date (April 4), no dumping of trash of any kind will be allowed” at these locations, according to the notice.
Several affected residents appeared at the board of commissioners’ April 3 meeting to express their opposition to the closures. Their comments were heard during the public comment section of a regular board meeting. As is custom, commissioners took no action on the complaints and made almost no comments.
Griggs did say during the meeting and in response to the comments that the county has looked at keeping the sites open, but they are located on state or federal lands.
“If the property was there to put a manned site, we would do it,” she said.
Affected residents said they were given two weeks notice, with no chance for public debate, for a decision that affects thousands of people. One resident said what was once a 6-mile drive to the Violet convenience center forces him to make a 30-mile round-trip to the Texana facility.
Several spoke at the meeting on the topic and some wondered whether they could expect to see a cut in their property taxes, saying the location of a nearby convenience center was the most visible sign they receive county services.
“This is a major concern for us,” Unaka resident Robert Willis said. “It compromises our way of life.”
Jack Albert of Unaka said he has participated in community cleanups that have resulted in refrigerators, air conditioners, ceiling fans, washing machines, dryers and more tossed from the highways.
He said volunteers hauled six tons of trash in recyclables and trash, including 211 bags of debris from Unaka alone. And that was with nearby convenience sites; he fears what may result without the facilities.