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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the number of commissioners who voted to approve the ordinance change.

On Tuesday, the Troup County Board of Commissioners approved a replacement to the sanitation ordinance approved on April 18 to clarify the provisions dealing with the recycling of solid waste.

County Manager Eric Mosley said the change was primarily to address C&C Sanitation’s plan to continue providing curbside garbage pickup by switching to a single-stream recycling model.

In April, the county awarded an exclusive franchise to Martin Environmental Services to provide curbside trash pickup and operate four convenience centers. The move was opposed by residents who attended three public hearings on the matter.

After the county’s decision to award the contract to Martin, C&C sent out notices to its customers indicating that they could keep their service with C&C because they were switching to a one-bin recycling system by partnering with RePower South.

Mosley said the definition of solid waste in the April 18 ordinance included recycling materials but staff wanted to further clarify that recycling was included.

“We just wanted to make it that much clearer. Even though we felt very comfortable with the [original] language, we wanted to be very clear,” Mosley said.

The proposed text change was not originally on the agenda for the meeting and was added at the start at the request of County Attorney Jerry Willis.

C&C Owner Lisa Durden, who was reached by phone after the meeting, said she was not aware that the issue was going to be discussed or she would have been at the meeting. She was unwilling to comment further Tuesday night.

The substitute ordinance also changed the effective date on the termination of the existing sanitation ordinance from July 1 to Jan. 1, 2024.

Mosley said the change doesn’t affect when the service with Martin Environmental begins on July 1. It just lines up the date with the tax season.

“It is primarily the termination of the service district right now. Right now, our service district is countywide. It goes to the unincorporated service district as a whole because we will no longer provide sanitation countywide under these provisions,” Mosley said.

Mosley said Troup residents will still see the sanitation millage on their tax bills, but it will be zeroed out.

The change was approved in a 3-2 vote with Commissioners Ellis Cadenhead and Lewis Davis in opposition.