Editor's note: This article was modified since it was first posted for clarification purposes.
Murphy – A month after restoring hours at the convenience center in Granny Squirrel, most Cherokee County commissioners declined to make further changes to other convenience sites in the county except one: It restored 24/7 service to the heavily used Caney Creek convenience site at 320 Old Murphy Road.
Commissioner Ben Adams said he has been receiving numerous calls from citizens complaining about limited hours at the convenience centers, which are used by residents outside Andrews and Murphy to dispose of household waste and recyclables. He described some callers as being “livid.”
Convenience sites at the Mountain Folk facility off U.S. 64 West in the western part of the county and the Solid Waste Landfill on the east part of the county are open around the clock. They are now joined by the Caney Creek site.
Following a reorganization in July, the remaining eight centers had restricted hours and days and were staffed, but Granny Squirrel had the fewest days open – just three.
Residents in the far east corner of the county around Granny Squirrel and Topton submitted a petition to the board in October. They complained that the hours were inconvenient for working families and that the drive to the landfill convenience center in Marble was too long. They successfully persuaded the board of commissioners to restore hours at the Granny Squirrel site to what they were prior to July reorganization – six days a week
The board agreed to discuss further changes at the November meeting, but at the meeting, Adams was alone on the board in arguing that all sites should be open around the clock.
Security concerns
County Solid Waste Director Robert Ward, who spoke at the November meeting, said fencing and staffing the more remote convenience centers prevents scavengers from going through the garbage bins.
Not only does that prevent scavengers from making a mess, it helps protect users from having their personal information exposed when they throw away things like credit card receipts, he said.
It also prevents illegal dumping, including things like construction debris, furniture and electronic equipment that should be going to the landfill, he said.
Keeping convenience sites unsecured would be a legal liability that “could be easily won by most lawyers,” he advised the board.
Ward said hours at the smaller convenience centers are sufficient and a better use of his staff’s time than having them go through hundreds of hours of video each week looking for violations.
Commissioners Dan Eichenbaum and Cal Stiles expressed concerns about liability as well, adding that preventing illegal dumping will extend the life of the landfill. The last extension cost the county $3 million and the next is expected to cost twice that.
While Stiles argued that the present operation keeps the convenience sites cleaner, safer and more cost efficient, Adams argued that the name should be changed to “inconvenient sites.”
County Manager Randy Wiggins pointed out that the sites are called “convenient” because they provide a legal way to dump household garbage without having to drive all the way to the landfill.
Cherokee County residential property owners pay $85 per year for the service.