Walthourville citizens seek answers on garbage contract

UPDATE 12:20 p.m. 8/29: ADDS Allenhurst special called meeting on sanitation

Walthourville’s city council is fighting to get the city out of a financial hole it inherited. But the remedy is not painless.

On Tuesday evening, city officials voted 4-1 to privatize sanitation services, a solution that would erase some of Walthourville’s tidal wave of municipal debt. But it delayed a vote on awarding the contract, pending a meeting with Town of Allenhurst officials on continuing shared sanitation.

Allenhurst announced Thursday it will hold a special called meeting in the issue at 4:30 p.m., at 4063 W. Oglethorpe Highway in Hinesville.

The move follows vigorous civic engagement August 22 at a public hearing on privatizing sanitation services. About two dozen citizens showed up for that public hearing last week, which was moved from council chambers to the fire station to accommodate the crowd.

Citizens express confusion, mistrust

Mayor Sarah B. Hayes started the public hearing by appealing for civility from speakers. The noise of a huge industrial fan and lack of the public address system back in council chambers made it difficult for people to hear each other. A few audience members dominated the discussion, repeatedly yelling out of turn after their allotted three minutes had elapsed.

It wasn’t long before some people began accusing city officials of getting kickbacks from the contractors who had submitted bids — without presenting evidence to support their claims — among other attacks.

Why this is happening

The ongoing debate stemmed from fiscal measures suggested by Councilman Mitchell Boston on Jan. 19, when he revealed that the city was not bringing in enough revenue to cover the expense of garbage collection. Both Mitchell and Councilman Robert Dodd proposed privatizing garbage collection as a solution to the serious financial problem .

According to Boston, the municipality is losing money on garbage pickup: its revenue is only $397,854 on expenses of $447,000.

Walthourville’s solid waste goes to a Liberty County transfer station in Fleming, then to a landfill owned by Republic Services of Georgia in Wayne County.

Under the current system, Walthourville pays Liberty County about $10,600 in landfill fees each month, a fraction of the estimated $70,000 it will owe by September, Boston said.

Furthermore, Walthourville’s August payment did not cover county service since February, he said, adding, “We cannot continue to operate like that.”

Instead, Boston proposed privatizing garbage pickup under a plan whereby the winning bidder also would buy the $250,000 garbage truck from the city, the proceeds of which would pay off the city’s landfill debt.

ABC Waste of Savannah and Atlantic Waste Services submitted bids for the job. Both companies made presentations at the Aug. 13 City Council meeting.

Citizen feedback: Complaints, questions

Walthourville residents who spoke at last week’s public hearing had little positive to say about the proposal — or the local government.

The first speaker, Gary Bradham, wanted to talk about what he described as violations of the state public meeting law. Bradham, an Army veteran who uses hearing aids, said the meeting was illegal, alleging it had not been properly advertised. He then told city officials they needed to be more open about cost increases “because it is going to go up.”

Councilwoman Nicole Reed of Allenhurst had a question about new garbage providers and whether her town’s residents would keep using the same carts. Boston said they will, “until no longer serviceable, and then the companies will just swap them out.”

Reed asked about billing should Walthourville privatize garbage collection, specifically whether Allenhurst residents would have to pay the $80 quarterly garbage fee proposed by Atlantic if it wins the contract. Boston said the fee was contingent on whether the city decides to have the new company handle billing, adding “I think we’re all on the same page that the city (of Walthourville) will continue to do the billing.”

The situation with Allenhurst would apparently remain unchanged. Walthourville already picks up Allenhurst’s garbage, and Reed told Boston that her town would be on board with privatization simply because they have no choice.But she added the contractor would have to seek permission from Allenhurst to do business there. Boston said the two cities would probably get a better rate together.

Wendell Stevenson of Waters Estates said he retired here 26 years ago and loves the community but doesn’t understand what’s going on. He said he’s taken to collecting the garbage with his own trailer: “And I tell you what, that’s not quite right,” he said.

He questioned the city’s $60,000-plus debt to the county and asked whether the city was following a budget. Boston pointed out that the previous council had passed a budget that was over $1 million in the red , “and that’s one of the reasons why I ran was because I saw that this is not sustainable.”

Boston told residents that the result of past spending by the city meant that fees now would have to increase. “Is everyone’s bill going to go up? Yes, it is,” Boston said. “I would say by about $7 or $8…. Yes, this is painful. I get it. I have to pay this, too. But we have to do something. We can’t continue to go down the same path.”

Boston told the residents that other towns in Coastal Georgia have successfully privatized the service — places like Hinesville and Pooler. According to him, those economies are booming.

Franchise fees and city jobs

Hayes said that the city would charge the winning bidder a franchise fee — a common practice for the privilege of companies doing business with local governments. Hayes did not say how much the fee would be nor how it would be calculated.

Boston said the city’s commercially licensed drivers would have the opportunity to to work for the new company and asserted that “they’ll be making more.” Other employees, he said, would be assigned new duties in the Public Works department.

Hayes added, “Everybody’s gonna remain employed.”

Former Walthourville councilwoman Patricia Green said she supported a plan that would keep municipal workers employed.

Curtis Watson, another resident, said a higher garbage fee, in addition to the new fire fee instituted by the municipality in March , would hurt long-time residents like himself. “Y’all put yourselves in this predicament. We didn’t,” he said. ”I ride around and I see all these multiple trailer parks around here, and I’m fully, almost certain that a lot of those people cannot afford what you guys are throwing at them. And it’s totally unfair.”

Hayes: “We had to do something”

Hayes responded to the complaints by appealing to reason. No one wants to pay more for services, she said, and most of the council opposed the fee. But “we had to do something to get some revenue in here to pay off some of these bills.” She explained that the fire fee takes some pressure off the General Fund, allowing the city to pay down debt.

Some present accused the city of hiding information, even though the request for proposal , bid notice , and the public hearing agenda were published on the city website.

Asked why she thought some citizens don’t seem to be aware of what’s going on with their government, Hayes told The Current , “I can’t answer for citizens. Numerous times have we stated and listed multiple formats, to include text and email alerts both going to citizens’ phones. Citizens must do their part in getting information which is readily available.”

Stay informed

Citizens can keep track of local and county government meetings across Coastal Georgia by signing up for The Current ’s free Coastal Navigator newsletter.

In addition, the City of Walthourville publishes agendas for upcoming meetings and minutes form past meetings on its website at https://www.cityofwalthourville.com/agendas-and-minutes . There’s a lag on previous meeting minutes, as the council has to vote to approve those at the following meeting. However, Georgia’s Open Meetings Act does require summary minutes (of subjects acted on and officials present) to be posted within two business days of the meeting.

You can also follow the City of Walthourville’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WeAreWalthourville , which usually but not always posts livestreams of official meetings.