Sending the wrong message?
By Patrick Kelley
Originally published 11:53 a.m., January 3, 2008
Updated 11:53 a.m., January 3, 2008
The city deserves credit for moving to save public money by closing the transfer station and recycling center on Sunday. But the city commission may want to watch closely to make sure the decision does not reduce recycling in Emporia or increase illegal dumping in Lyon County.
The new hours at the transfer station and recycling center on West South Avenue are ideal for most commercial purposes, but they effectively cut in half the time those services are available to most Emporians.
People with jobs who do their own yard work often get most of it done on the weekend. For many people, weekdays are just too busy to allow time to load a car or truck, make a run out to the far edge of town and dump trash or recyclables. It is unreasonable to expect people who do yard work on Sunday to bag their clippings and leaves and then let them sit until Saturday rolls around again.
And for someone with a pickup load of trash, the first priority is to dump it, no matter what day of the week it is. If the transfer station and the construction landfill are not open, some people will go looking for a ditch or a river bank along a deserted rural road.
People who recycle paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and aluminum are much less likely to take up littering when the recycling center is closed. But that does not mean that the closing of the recycling center on Sundays will not have an effect.
Recycling is a hard habit to encourage, and every obstacle that is placed in the way makes it that less likely that people will take the time to separate their trash and recycle it. In one sense, the new city schedule reduces the ease of recycling for Emporians by precisely a seventh.
In this case, the risk is not that people will begin dumping their recyclables around the county, but that they will stop or reduce their efforts to recycle. That would mean less recycling and an increased flow of trash through the transfer station.
Because every bit of trash that goes to the transfer station must be trucked to an out-of-county landfill, discouraging recycling can be costly.
Of course the city commissioners do not want to discourage recycling or encourage illegal dumping. But sometimes, decisions made for the best of reasons — in this case, fiscal responsibility — have unintended consequences.
The city should keep a close watch on recycling statistics and reports of illegal dumping, to make sure that closing the transfer station and the recycling center one day a week does not wind up costing taxpayers more than the money the city hopes to save.
pizza (anonymous) says...
In a Gazette poll last year 73% of the respondents said they did not want the transfer station closed on Sunday but the commission closed it anyway. Voters only seem to be important at election time.
January 3, 2008 at 2:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Close it Monday and Tuesday mornings and open it Sundays
January 3, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
I have a long list of questions to ask commissioners who knock on my door next time they run for office. Why they voted to close the transfer station on Sundays is at the top of the list. Saving a little bit on the attendant's salary then spending tons on hiring consultants is insane. Wait until a beautiful Sunday in spring when everybody in town is doing yard work, or the line at the transfer station on Saturdays goes beyond closing time.
January 3, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hillbilly (anonymous) says...
I agree, this ranks near the top for STUPID decisions that have been make lately by this city, I agree with create, that leave it open on Sundays and close it one day during the week, Just how many people does it take to operate it on Sundays?? cant be that many, but they probably did not look into that, wonder who they hired to make the decision.................where were the county commissioners on this, did they think it was OK??? they bit$h now that it costs to much to clean up the trash that is dumped now in the county, reference the Winter furniture company story
January 3, 2008 at 3:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wanderer (anonymous) says...
Budget choices are never easy. But this seems to be a small gain for a potentially high cost. As others have said before, people will dump their trash somewhere ... it's best if that somewhere is the transfer station.
"We had never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before, so with tears in our eyes, we drove off into the sunset, looking for another place to put the garbage..." -- Arlo Guthrie
January 3, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mythoughts (anonymous) says...
Ha Ha wanderer - "You can get anything you want..." Except a place to take all the yard refuse after you've worked your patootie off all day Saturday. And who has a truck? Not me! I have to beg and borrow because this town is so chincy it won't even pick up my fall leaves. 15 trips to the leaf drop off, with two bags in my compact car's trunk each trip? It's enough to drive me mad, I tell you.
January 3, 2008 at 5:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
I agree with virtually all that is said here. But foremost I agree that the City Commissioners are proving - over & over - that they don't give a hoot about what the citizens want or tell them they want. Ms. Johnson comes the closest, but she is only one vote and she'd be brain damaged if she beat her head against the brick wall of the good old boys for every issue they screw up. Particularly Mr. Agler & Mr. Longbine, who could have used a good dose of humility for Christmas.
January 3, 2008 at 6:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CAFEmporia (anonymous) says...
I, too, agree that having the dump open at the time most people are not working makes sense. Since the city is a service, it should act like one. This should be a mistake and, having been realized, reversed. Otherwise, as others have said, the issues should come up again during the next elections and the ones after.
Bad decision.
January 3, 2008 at 7:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
Saturday and Sunday are important dump days. CLose it on Wednesdays. If you are going to make good choices, MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!
January 3, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
Lots of businesses use the dump on Wednesdays also. Tree services dump branches and leaves that gets ground into mulch or used for fill. Dump trucks bring in construction debris. So either way somebody will be handicapped. I would hate for people that use the landfill as part of their business to get handicapped by a landfill closed on Wednesday.
January 4, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I have to ask, Tree services charge to haul off limbs and debris, do they dump for free at the landfill?
January 6, 2008 at 10:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
Have you ever loaded up all those branches onto a trailer? I have and it sucks and what they charge isnt enough imo and that is why I am no longer in that business. No the dump doesnt charge. It gets ground into the free mulch you can go pick up or it gets ground up and used as fill in the landfill portion so they dont have to buy it.
January 7, 2008 at 8:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
Umm... greenday... I'm pretty sure if I burned my leaves in my yard at 15th and Neosho I'd probably be violating some sort of law. If not, I do know for sure I'd piss my neighbors off. And If I burned my plastic milk jugs I ought to be arrested. And my aluminum and glass won't burn. And burning my newspapers and junk mail would probably be dangerous. And more importantly, if all those things _can_ be recycled instead of polluting the air, then they _should_ be!
And the Thanksgiving reference was from a 1967 Arlo Guthrie song - Alice's Restaurant Massacree. I don't think anyone in Lyon county expects the dump to be open on Thanksgiving. At least not since 1967.
http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/...
January 8, 2008 at 7:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
Actually, I compost my leaves. But again, that doesn't work with the recyclables.
January 8, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
siamesefred (anonymous) says...
For some of us in the country, it's not as simple as throwing a few boxes of recyclables in the trunk and finding time to get to the center.
Some of us choose not to pay for trash service, hauling directly to the dump instead what we cannot easily burn in the burn barrel. This isn't something we can do on our lunch hour.
When we work 8-5 during the week and often have extra hours or other commitments on Saturday, Sunday afternoon is our time of choice to haul in the trash trailer.
Yes, you're right, we can make adjustments, but with our family's schedule, it will take planning waaaay in advance. For instance, the next 8 Saturdays are already booked up and my trash trailer is full.
January 9, 2008 at 6:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
kstre, NS? I wasn't questioning why tree services charge to haul off limbs, that's a no brainer. I was questioning why they get to dump for free. I feel the dump area for yard waste should be free for tax paying citizens, but I think businesses should have to pay something towards it's maintenance for being able to use it.
January 9, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
Are the businesses not tax paying citizens? All they equipment (bucket trucks, trailers, work trucks, etc) gets taxed, their property gets taxed. They probably pay more taxes than you do. That would be like saying the Fire Department shouldn't come put out a fire at Bluestem for free because Bluestem is a business.
January 9, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Wow, there's a stretch. I'm saying they are collecting a fee to handle brush, they should in turn pay a fee for the City employees to handle the brush they dump there. Do you not pay a fee when you haul garbage to the dump in your truck even though you already pay for the trash service and for curbside pickup? If they are going to collect fees from the public, from other businesses who pay for the service, I think it's fair to expect them to pay a fee as well.
January 9, 2008 at 6:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pollyanna (anonymous) says...
Ok, so folks are talking about making their lives simpler. Wish as we might that the City of E could afford proactive recycling services such as curbside recycling and provision of recycling containers like many upward thinking cities do, I can provide a suggestion. A friend of mine is starting a family recycling business. For a $20 deposit and $15/month charge, you get someone coming to pick up all your recyclables every Sat morning as well as providing 2 recycling bins. This is a new business venture and may need some tweaking, but if you are interested in this, let me know and I can get you in touch with the owner!
January 10, 2008 at 4:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
olddog (anonymous) says...
Be glad it will be open 6 days a week. Some transfer stations such as in Eureka are only open a COUPLE of days a week!
And yes I have had trees cut and tried to save money by doing the cleanup myself. NEVER again! Thats alot of work and wear and tear!
I will gladly pay them to hail it off next time!
January 10, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
olddog (anonymous) says...
**Correction** I will gladly pay them to haul it off next time!
January 10, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
slipandslide (anonymous) says...
pollyanna, what is the business name and phone number?
January 10, 2008 at 11:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
olddog (anonymous) says...
.....The city deserves credit for moving to save public money by closing the transfer station and recycling center on Sunday
In the minutes just posted lately there was talk of proposing a pay raise for the commissioners.....
Could the funds possibly be coming from the transfer station cutting back? Where do they plan to use those extra funds? Makes you wonder........
January 11, 2008 at 12:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pollyanna (anonymous) says...
slip-
Here's the business name and contact info you were asking about. The business name is The Green Door and email is GreenDoorRecycling@gmail.com. Phone is 6) 794-1663.
January 11, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )