News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Jackson County accepted a new solid waste contract Monday night after its agreement with the Moss landfill expired.
Mayor Randy Heady said costs were going up $12 a ton and other offers were one-year contracts at over $40 dollars a ton. Heady said Smith County reached out and offered a five-year contract at $37 a ton.
“We believe that this is the best that we can do, it’s a bird in the hand today and we need to nail down a contract on where to take waste,” Heady said. “Unfortunately, waste is not going anywhere this is a state mandated thing that we have to do.”
Heady said that approving this contract was given a recommendation from the solid waste committee. Heady said that $37 a ton is still going to be an increase to the budget, but it was the only decent offer the county had.
“Just so everybody knows, there’s some concerns there,” Heady said. “Time, travel, maintenance and we’re just going to have to deal with those. We’re just going to have to do the best we can. We’ve actually discussed all these things, have we not? We have talked about every bit of it, on a busy day and what our reaction is going to be in this scenario and that scenario but I do think that under the circumstances its the best thing that we have.”
