“Where the Hell did our Green Dumpsters Go?”

It was a beautiful evening in downtown Zena as I arrived at the Zena Community Center to attend a meeting on “Where the Hell did our Green Dumpsters Go” called by 2^nd District Delaware County OK. County Commissioner Tom Sanders. I asked Commissioner Sanders if he was ready for a beating tonight, and he said, “I think I may should have worn chaps”.

Evidently, the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority Trust accepted the recommendation of General Manager Kent Vice, that the citizens would be better served if, without notice, they were told to take their trash to facilities in Grove and Jay; and so, with no notice, they removed the Green Boxes.

Now let’s get this picture.

Kent says he is following a plan laid out almost 17 years ago, and is just now activating the plan. “We’ve removed all the dumpsters in the north end of the county and replaced them with convenience centers. At first the residents were upset with the inconvenience, but now they like the idea.”

Joe K. says, “many of us living in this area deliver trash to the Green Dumpsters several times a week, and it is a 6 mile trip there and 6 miles back, for a lot of us. The movement of our trash system another 10 miles Plus 10 miles back, might not seem much, but it’s just unreasonable.” So, there and back was 12 miles. There and back now is 32 miles. They just made it 3 times the distance, and that is unacceptable”.

We have also had a tremendous problem with folks putting unacceptable trash in our boxes, and people complain about the overflow from the boxes. After the move to convenience centers, we won’t have to deal with out of county people depositing trash in our system unless we charge them.

Mr. Vice does not think the absence of Green Dumpsters will increase trash on our county roads. He believes they will pass the empty lot where the dumpsters were and go on to Jay or Grove on their way out of town.

Mr. Vice continued to tell the crowd that they would get used to it, it’s what is best for Delaware County. The 125 citizens, standing outside on the grass because they could not fit in the community center, were not impressed.

However, while the crowd was shouting, Commissioner Tom Sanders and Mr. Vice took turns quietly making their way to back behind a truck to visit with Solid Waste Board member Howard Sitton, who was quietly watching the crowd.

Sanders then takes the microphone and announces, “while talking with Solid Waste board member Sitton, we want you folks to know that nothing is in stone, the board will take up your objections to the plan, and if we have to place dumpsters back until we come up with a better plan, we will. We may have to consider another Convenience Center in this area. Sitton kept saying, “Gee, I sure with the other commissioners would have been here to see this!”

There will be a special meeting to be called by the Solid Waste Trust Authority sometime next week.

PREVIOUS STORY ON DELAWARE COUNTY SOLID WASTE APPEARED IN AUGUST OF 2013
http://www.grandlakebusinessjournal.com/why-citizens-from-colcord-bernice-grove-and-jay-are-getting-charged-extra-by-the-delaware-county-solid-waste-authority-trust/

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