Lauderdale County supervisors are facing a decision whether to continue to pick up limbs and other debris from county rights-of-way, limit what the county will and won’t pick up or stop the service altogether.

 

In a work session Thursday, Road and Bridge Coordinator Ryan Mosley said the county has a long-standing service of picking up fallen limbs and other debris after tornadoes and other damaging storms come through a community. Residents pile the debris in the county right-of-way, and a boom truck comes by to pick it up, he said.

 

Over time, the post-storm cleanup has grown and evolved until now the county is constantly picking up debris throughout the county, Mosley said. Dead-headed crepe myrtles, limbs from tree services, yard debris and more are being stacked in the county rights-of-way for the boom truck to haul off.

 

“These situations here, 80% percent of what we’re picking up is not storm related,” he said. “This is just wood waste coming from their yards.”

 

Solid Waste Manager Daniel Mabry said the service is being abused. One recent instance, he said, had fencing, chunks of concrete, railroad ties and other debris thrown in with limbs and branches, and cost Lauderdale County taxpayers $840 to pick up. Another instance where the county worked with the power company to remove a tree, saw residents pile appliances and other trash at the site ahead of the county’s arrival.

 

“That cleanup cost the county around $5,000,” he said.

 

Mabry said that and other similar occurrences are considered illegal dumping, and residents can face penalties.

 

Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said there is a process the county can go through to charge the cost of cleaning up illegal dump sites to the landowners. The county’s garbage contract does not include debris pickup, he said, so it is not a service that must be provided.

 

Supervisors face two issues with the county’s current operation, Mosley said. The first issue is what to do about the expanded scope of the pickup. If supervisors want county crews to continue picking up everything, that can happen, or limits can be put in place if the elected officials opt to go that route instead.

 

“I think we just need to come up with a policy that we do or we don’t,” he said. “I’m good with either. I just need some clarity for my guys to know what they can and can’t do.”

 

The other issue is one of equipment. The county’s boom truck, which uses a crane-like arm to pick up debris and put it in the truck bed, is around 12 years old and is getting to the point where it spends more time in the maintenance shop than it does on the roads. If supervisors want to continue with the limb service, planning for a new truck will likely need to happen soon.

 

County Administrator Chris Lafferty said he recently spoke with the county administrator in Lamar County, which faced a similar situation and opted to continue with debris pickup. The county went from one truck to five, he said, and has the demand to add even more.

 

“He said he could add 10 more tomorrow, and it still wouldn’t be enough,” Lafferty said.

 

The county already has procedures in place to handle illegal dumping, Thaggard said, but how to approach limb and debris pickup is a policy decision that will have to be decided by the Board of Supervisors.

 

Supervisor J.J. Anders said county officials will need to decide how best to move forward. If the service is going to continue, supervisors should plan to include funding for a new boom truck in the upcoming budget, he said.