Trash on the table again? @ LCC 2012-12-10

Will the County Commission table trash again, or will they make a hasty decision to privatize, granting a monopoly in a public-private partnership, and leaving many people in the unincorporated parts of Lowndes County to burn their trash, probably including materials that the rest of us don’t want to breathe? We can’t tell from yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session. They vote or table tonight at 5:30 PM.

6.b. Solid Waste Ordinance.

County Manager Joe Pritchard reminded the Commissioners they tabled it last time. Maybe they’ll table it again tonight. They said nothing yesterday morning.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:

Trash on the table again? Part 1 of 2:
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 December 2012.

8.b. Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services with Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.

Staff finally told us publicly that Veolia has been bought by Advanced Disposal Services of Alabama; the County Clerk could have said this in the agenda instead of leaving us all guessing. Commissioners had no questions about the proposed exclusive contract with ADS, which would also involve closing the existing waste collection stations. The Chairman has asserted in the VDT that privatization is bad for Moody AFB: so why is it not bad for a county-supplied public health and safety service, namely trash collection?

Here’s Part 2 of 2:

Trash on the table again? Part 2 of 2:
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 December 2012.

The Commission could have staff submit written reports that go in the agenda and minutes, like the Library Board does, and then put those online as PDF or HTML linked to an HTML agenda, like Glynn County and Richmond County do, and we wouldn’t have to guess the things like why Veolia’s name vanished and APS appeared.

-jsq