April 18 Update
County Administrator Jim Bramblett told us he did not expect but a few weeks that the County would not have a Landfill available.
Residents that use the landfill to dispose of their trash will have to find another option during that time.

He did state the County may have to look at placing some dumpsters at the present landfill location to help residents.  The County would then utilize another service to empty these dumpsters.  I stated that I understood that when the landfill is full, that a new set of rules would apply and asked if this would be allowed under these circumstances.  He stated that it would be allowed.

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The newly formed County Landfill Advisory Committee met on Monday night for the first time.  What they discovered was no one knows when the County landfill will be full and more importantly, what plans the County has for all the County trash when it is full.

At left, dumpster for the County Offices

This committee showed me that they are serious about their mission.  It appears that the attitude will be to define what is needed and to get it done.

They have set monthly meetings to be the 2nd Monday of each month at 6 pm.  Each of the members introduced themselves and officers were elected, Chairman Dr Craig Burnside, Vice Chairman Jim Overman and Secretary Dale Brock.

The Committee - Jim Overman, Dr Craig Burnside, Dale Brock, Winston Pearson, Chris Hobby, Johnny Medley, Vernon Screen and Richard Crook.  Susan Ralph was not present

The County's secret plans of what to do with their trash is in sharp contrast to the City of Bainbridge.  Committee member and City Manager Chris Hobby stated they have been looking at the challenge for a year. 

After Hobby was told by County Administrator Bramblett they would TRY to give them a weeks notice on the landfill being full, the City purchased 2 trailers that hold 27 tons of trash each.  The City will utilize these trailers and Seminole Sanitation for trash.  Seminole Sanitation is not available for the County because they are not be able to handle this increase in volume.

The Solid Waste Committee is concerned if there is not a plan in place now, the county will experience a very very serious illegal dumping problem.  This of course would be worse than the regular serious illegal dumping problem we have.  Attapulgus Mayor Johnny Medley expressed tremendous concern with what the County will do when the landfill is full.

The committee plans to ask Administrator Jim Bramblett and County Commissioners what the plan is at their next meeting. 

But this may be too late.  Most do not expect the present landfill to last until the Commissioners next meeting on May 9. 

The earliest the new landfill may be available for use is June 1, and we know what that means, sometime after June 1.  It is truly a shame we have not utilized these citizens before now.

The Solid Waste Committee will concentrate on several areas including monitoring the landfill, recycling and disposal of hazardous materials.

The committee plans to establish solutions that will be
Environmentally Friendly
Socially Acceptable and
Economically Sound
Dr. Burnside expressed that if these principles were not followed, then any program attempted would be doomed to fail.

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