Whether Trigg Countians like it or not, Green For Life — better known as GFL — could be the community’s trash service for the long haul.
With concerns mounting around inconsistent pickup, failure to apply credit and a reported lack of customer service, Judge-Executive Hollis Alexander noted during Monday’s fiscal court meeting he’s had a recent “lengthy” conversation with an unnamed GFL representative.
In that discussion, Alexander said he relayed complaints about missed routes, delinquent dumpsters and the like, and that a solution must come to the surface, as magistrates Barry Littlejohn and Alana Baker-Dunn among the many who have brought their constituent’s frustrations to the forefront in recent weeks.
GFL’s answer, Alexander said, was simple: not enough workers, and too much work.
The dumpster to which Alexander is referring to is the one behind Main Street and the courthouse annex, and many others around the county share its fate.
Alexander said while a franchise has been toyed with at recent meetings, he further added that it would only provide minimal leverage by locking a price for mandatory county-wide pickup.
With so many partially-maintained summer homes near the lakes area, Alexander noted mandatory pickup likely wouldn’t work, and that GFL would almost certainly continue to skip routes that had few full-time customers.
Those two locations bought out by GFL? Oak Grove and Clarksville, which means Trigg County has little, if any, reprisal.
A convenience center, Alexander said, would come through GFL and likely consist of 18 large-ish dumpsters — in which the community could haul its own garbage and deposit trash at a per bag fee. The service wouldn’t be in lieu, but instead would be an additional option for Trigg Countians.
But even that is somewhat of an issue. Alexander said located such a facility comes with difficulty, and putting it near the road department or the recycling center could create other issues — like traffic congestion and unwanted odors.
Regardless, Littlejohn said something has to be done. Soon.
In other court news:
— Alexander and the magistrates went into executive session, and emerged with a unanimous decision to remove Frye Road from the county’s purview. The road stems off 139 South, to the right as one heads toward the Tennessee state line.
— Alexander and the magistrates are approaching a revisit of a new Trigg County Rescue building, and plan to visit the facility soon. The county’s budget has considerable cash set aside for a remodel, but Alexander said he and David Bryant have approached multiple contractors with little or no headway on where to start. A complete rewire would cost between $50,000 and $75,000.
— Lisa Champion, concerned citizen, requested that fiscal court try to move forward with providing streaming services of its meetings, as well as online reproductions of the court’s regularly-provided public documents. Alexander and Treasurer Lucy Oliver Kyler said that could be taken into serious consideration.
— Magistrates voted to table the $160,000 purchase of a two-ton, soft-spreader snowplow, which would replace a dilapidated 2002 GMC. Alexander said a likely purchase from a state contractor wouldn’t come to fruition until October 2024, anyway, and there’s hope of finding another option.
— Magistrates also approved the county’s flex funding road plan of $289,080, which will likely help attack Pleasant Hill Church Road.
