WS Chronicle

BY TODD LUCK 

THE CHRONICLE

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners are moving toward voting on universal curbside garbage and recycling for the unincorporated parts of the county but, if approved, the service won’t start for months.

The proposed universal mandatory service would provide both curbside garbage and recycling pickup to the 25,842 unincorporated households in the county, which would pay for it with a fee on their tax bills. Minor Barnette, director of Forsyth’s environmental assistance and protection office, said that July 1 was the very earliest it could start to allow con-tractors time to do things like purchase additional trucks and hire more drivers for the new service.

“It becomes a win-win situation,” said County Commissioner Chair Dave Plyler. “The residents win. The carriers win. We win, finally.”

Barnette said he’s in talks with the three contractors the county uses for its current curbside garbage subscription service for unincorporated households to provide the new universal service. After negotiating terms with Rural Garbage Service, ABC Garbage Service and Waste Management, he’ll come back with specifics for the contracts and what the new rate for households will be. In previous meetings, he said he was confident it would be less than $15 a month. Currently, the more than 14,000 households that subscribe to just garbage service pay $14.29 a month.

The commissioners plan to vote on an item declaring the county will be going to a universal garbage and recycling service on Feb.13. Then in March, they plan to approve the new contracts for the service.

No county commissioner has voiced opposition to the move.

Commissioners Walter Marshall and Everette Witherspoon voiced support for universal recycling service when they voted against ending the recycling subscription service last year. Commissioner Richard Linville said he liked using the term “universal” for the new service.

This move comes after the county was inundated with phones calls when its subscription recycling service for unincorporated households ended this year. Due to low participation and drops in the commodities market, contractors were losing money providing recycling service. After two service providers didn’t renew their con-tracts, the county deregulated recycling pickup in hopes garbage carriers would negotiate with housing developments for service. So far, providers have only done that with a few hundred households. The other households currently have to take recyclables to one of the county’s three recycling centers.