Save The Sequoyah Transfer Station - And Response (3)

  • Monday, July 17, 2017

Of course, the Sequoyah Transfer Station is a widely used service to the Sale Creek and Soddy Daisy areas, so shut it down Hamilton County Government has decided.  When government does something really well, they discontinue.

 

Our county government has made the decision to close the transfer station without the benefit of hearing from the public. Where is our elected representative for this area, Randy Fairbanks, on this subject? Why the sound of crickets from our elected representatives.

 

 Commissioner Fairbanks, it is just rude to dump this 12-day notice on the huge base of people that use the service.  Shame on you for not looking out for your district.

 

There should have been a public hearing and community conversations before Hamilton County blindsided the Soddy Daisy region with the decision to close   This is an outrageous closure of public service without ample notice.

Twelve days - are you kidding?

 

For the record, I have private curb pick up once a week. However, when I clean out the garage or have additiona; waste, I use the Sequoyah Transfer Station and pay 50 cents a garbage bag to dispose of the waste, and use the roll offs for larger debris.

 

I believe that when the Sequoyah Transfer Station is closed the larger waste items that were going in the open roll offs will be dumped on the road. Why? because the community will not have access to larger disposal that does not fit in the private service container.  That was the case in every jurisdiction that did not offer its citizens access to large waste disposal. That is why the waste service makes sense.

 

The private services you listed will not accept larger items.  

 

Raise the fees, establish a fee structure for the large debris roll offs, but please do not close the Sequoyah Transfer Station.

 

 Save the community transfer station.

 

April Eidson
 
* * *
 
April, it would probably be a good idea to get you facts straight before flying off half cocked. I'm pretty sure the decision to close went in front of the county mayor's desk.  The two locations listed by Hamilton County Government aren't the only games in town. PWS, approximately one mile away, will have the ability on Aug. 1 to take everything the transfer station currently takes and more. They're going to be open more times during the week, more often, and longer hours. And best of all, you can bring a trailer on Saturdays. Something not allowed at the transfer station.
 
Hamilton County didn't need to be in business competing with local companies any longer. Perhaps you're unaware of exactly how much money that place was losing because of a flawed system. Their current shortfall was over $180,000 by most estimates. And, wait for it. They needed over $300,000 in new equipment to replace broken equipment in order to continue to lose money. 
 
It was a flawed system. Charging for debris by size when landfills charge by weight is just bad math, plain and simple. Making customers pay two quarters per bag of trash as opposed to one quarter wasn't really going to do the trick. 

James Berry

* * *

I completely agree with Ms. Eidson, County Commissioner Fairbanks needs to stand up for his constituents and save our transfer station.

When Mr. Fairbanks was running for his commission seat I asked about establishing a brush dump somewhere near the transfer station so as to allow the taxpayers on the north end of the county a place to dispose of tree limbs and brush.

Of course, that never happened and now the same taxpayers are getting the shaft again.

All the articles I’ve read trumpet the fact that most folks have access to curbside service but I’m sure that service will cost more than the dollar or two a week that I spend at the transfer station.

What about the folks who can’t afford curbside service?

What about the folks who dispose of building and construction waste?

What about the taxpayers of the north end of Hamilton County who pay so much in taxes but get little back other than the County Patrol and substandard schools?

The cities of Soddy Daisy, Red Bank, East Ridge and Chattanooga all have curbside service that is run by the city. When are the unincorporated citizens going to have anything like this?

Don’t tell me about the fees and taxes the residents pay for that. We pay plenty of taxes out here and we’ve also been paying to use the Sequoyah Transfer station as well.

I guess everyone will return to the bad old days of using the sides of Mowbray, Flat Top and Bakewell mountains as their dumps because that’s probably what we have to look forward to thanks to our elected “representatives” on the County Commission.

Raise the fees at the transfer station if you must, but don’t shaft us here in the north end again.

If you do, don’t complain about the garbage on the side of your roads.

John T. Sanders

* * *

Another aspect that should be considered by the ones wanting to close this transfer station is the additional traffic they will be putting on these narrow, curvy roads. The garbage trucks that currently run on these roads have to stop in areas where cars and school buses coming behind them cannot see them until they are already on them.  

Most of the truck drivers exceed the 35 mph speed and drive too fast for the roads, most do not maintain their lane.  Putting more trucks on these roads is not an answer unless the ones in charge plan to widen and/or straighten the roads.

Cindy Triplett

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