Rhea County Emergency Management Director Brad Harrison came to the Rhea County Commission to request a burn ban for the entire county.
Mr. Harrison said there were several large brush fires that have occurred lately in the county with one in the Garrison area near the Rhea and Hamilton County lines on Dayton Mountain and on Grandview Mountain, which has rekindled into a large fire.
County Executive Jim Vincent told commissioners that he has looked into this and there are two ways that this can be done.
“First is where I declare a ban on all burning in the county. This would cover the county but would not cover state and federal property. Second would be under state law, the commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the state forester, has the authority to issue burn bans at the request of county mayors or county executives under certain weather conditions.” He added that this would cover all parts of the county.
A poll of the commissioners was made, and all indicated to let County Executive Vincent handle the matter as quickly as possible.
“I have full confidence in our county executive and our EMA director to handle this matter as quickly as they can,” said County Commission Chairman Jim Reed.
According to the state, Franklin, Grundy, Rutherford and Williamson counties all have county-wide burn bans in place due to unfavorable weather conditions. A combination of little rain and low humidity have contributed to prime wildfire conditions in the mid-state.
Additionally, Sequatchie County and Morgan County have also issued county-wide burn bans, according to the state Division of Forestry.
While these burn bans are active, burning any of the following is prohibited within the county lines:
leaves, brush fence rows
ditch banks
construction debris, boards, plywood, decking, cardboard, etc.
fields, grassland
gardens
wooded areas
campfires, cooking fires
grills, charcoal or wood fired (but not natural or propane gas fired)
Also, at the Rhea County Commission workshop Tuesday night, the ugly issue of the landfill rose again as far as the tipping fees being asked of users.
Commission Vice Chairman Leo Stephens raised the issue that at the Rhea County landfill, there is a higher fee on construction debris than there is on other items.
Vice Chairman Stephens pointed out that he checked with other landfills and found that some charge as low as $20 a ton for construction debris while Rhea County charges $44.50 a ton. He said that even after the tonnage charge, Rhea County landfill was charging an 18 percent fuel surcharge on top of the tipping fee.
Even though Rhea County owns the landfill they have a contract with Capital Waste, which is a waste services company that provides residential, commercial, and industrial waste collection, disposal and recycling services in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. According to their website, they are a community-oriented company and "we are dedicated to providing the very best services to our customers." They recently acquired Priority Waste Services located in Soddy Daisy, which serves many residences in Rhea County.
County Executive Vincent said the landfill in Rhea County is different from the other places as it is household waste only.
He said, “The bottom of our landfill has two foot of chert packed down, then covered with a liner. It also has pipes to take the leachate out of the landfill and into a collection pool where they take it off to dump in the city of Dayton Sewer plant.”
He added that the county profits off the landfill and the money that is made goes to support the county’s waste collection and convenience centers.
“If we lower the prices at the landfill, we will be cutting into the money that the county is making,” said the county executive.
He advised the commission that Capital Waste is close to completing the opening of the new part of the landfill.
Vice Chairman Stephens continued his argument telling the commission that there are several large transport companies bringing in “100s of tons a month."
County Executive Vincent said in the new section of the landfill there will be a methane gas processing unit and a pump system that will flow into the new sewer line that will be put in.
No action was taken at this time by the commission.