Sparta Working Out Details For Landfill Usage

Sparta officials working with Waste Management to figure out exactly how the city and landfill will define a new agreement.

Mayor Jerry Lowery said the city was excluded from the county’s deal with Waste Management so it is developing a completely separate agreement. Lowery said they are considered a vendor of the landfill and they are currently negotiating how much the city will be charged to take its trash there.

“I want everything in writing,” Lowery said. “I want to see what the fees are going to be so we can make an educated decision because without that in writing and seeing the actual numbers, it’s impossible to make a budget decision and a decision at all that impacts, you know, five thousand residents within the city. So it’s a definite issue right now.”

Lowery said they need to work out a solution because they are currently spending a lot of money hauling their trash to Morrison. After a meeting last week, Lowery said the city will meet with Waste Management again sometime in the next couple weeks.

“The sludge in the water department, we’re hauling it to Red Boiling Springs right now,” Lowery said. “And it needs to be spread out on a field and there’s other things with that but, yes, its impact, it’s costing us quite a bit of money to do this.”

Lowery said he believes the matter will get worked out quickly if everyone is transparent with one another and they get input from the community.

“The Bible talks about wise counsel with many counselors,” Lowery said. “It’s wise to do that instead of just someone making a decision. And with all that, you know, we got good people in good positions and I think we can come up with a solution that will be beneficial to the city of Sparta and White County.”

Lowery said he feels the city should have been included in the original deal between the county and Waste Management so they could have worked these issues out ahead of time.