County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner 

Con’t- Recycling part II

Q. Why doesn’t the county have a “FREE DAY” at the transfer station so people could bring their bagged trash, old appliances, junk, computers, etc. and dump them off for free?
A. Unfortunately, the free bagged trash day is not very likely since we have to pay the bill to the contractor who picks up the county garbage.  The same will be said for old appliances, although they are accepted for free if the Freon has been removed.  However, we just finished a clean-up day and the county accepted old tires for a few days.  We had a grant from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Scrap Tire Management Unit, to pay for this.  We also have a free drop off date for electronic equipment about every six months.  There are also two or three companies who will pick up junk cars for free. 

Q. Have you gotten many calls on your new “Litter Hotline”?
A. Yes, we have received some calls.  Just recently a citizen called in saying they had just seen a fertilizer bag blow out of the back of a truck.  He was able to get the tag number which we called in and got a name. These people received a warning letter this week and any future problem within two years will receive an automatic $ 1,000 fine.

Q. I have been seeing the Adopt-A-Highway ads in the paper the last few weeks.  Have you been successful in getting people to adopt highways?
A. Yes, this campaign has been very successful.  Since we started putting the ads in the paper we have had one or two people sign up each week.  So far, we have added about eleven people to the list who have adopted portions of the following roads:  Pat Colwell, Honeysuckle Lane, Old Smoky, Canal Lake Rd, Smyrna Road, Old Gumlog Road, Ivy Log Drive, Barnes Creek Road, Poteete Creek Road, E. Mt. Pleasant Church Road and Helton Creek Road.  Thank you to all those who have adopted these roads.  We are hoping to add many more to the list.

Q. What is Adopt-A-Highway?
A. Adopt-A-Highway is a litter prevention program sponsored by the North Georgia Resource Management Authority and Keep Our Mountains Beautiful and the County Commissioner.  With litter along our roadways becoming a problem of epidemic proportions, it is costing the county more and more to keep the roads cleaned up.  This program enlists the help of citizens like you who are concerned about preserving the beauty of our area. 

Q. Can you give the details of what is required if we adopt a section of our county road?
A. If you adopt a portion of a highway (one mile minimum), to give you or your organization proper recognition,  we will install two signs on this road  indicating the section of road under adoption and the name(s) of those responsible for picking up the trash.  In addition, we provide orange safety vests and orange trash bags and media coverage to inform the public of the program.  There is no charge to take this trash to the transfer station or the county can assist with picking up the bags.  All we ask in return is that you commit to picking up litter a minimum of once per quarter (four times a year) and that you let us know when and how much trash you have picked up.  These reports are sent to Leslie George at NGRMA who then reports to the national Keep America Beautiful organization and to the State of Georgia.

Thanks again to all our present and past volunteers of this program.  You are really providing a valuable service to this county.

Back to List Page