County switches management of landfill

Published 8:57 am Thursday, December 2, 2021

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A resolution regarding maintenance by the Troup County Board of Commissioners is expected to save the county thousands of dollars.

The commission passed a resolution, dubbed the Landfill Operation Agreement, that allowed the county to partner with Troup County Waste Complex, which will now be responsible for the maintenance of the Mountville Construction & Demolition Landfill, located at 174 Palmer Road.

County engineer James Emery described the agreement as a substantial financial benefit to the county and said it involves personal property Troup County otherwise has no use for.

“The county has been subsidizing the operation year after year, and it has not been an overall revenue source for the county, it’s been an overall cost to the county at over $400,000 a year [over the last five years],” Emory said.

Troup County, through the Troup County Board of Commissioners, provides solid waste services to the citizens of Troup County through its operation and management the C&D landfill.

As noted in the resolution’s description, the county has previously explored various options for improving solid waste services for the citizens of Troup County, including selling or leasing the landfill or contracting it out to a private contractor, but ultimately decided against these options.

Ultimately, the commissioners decided to contract for specialized professional sanitary engineering services for the operation and management of the landfill.

With the agreement, there will be a host fee and a royalty paid by the contractors to the county for each ton of waste that comes in.

Emery doesn’t expect that the public will see any substantial change to the landfill’s operation or any change in the ability to access the facility.