The McCreary County Fiscal Court recently signed a new 5-year Garbage contract with Scott Solid Waste.
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The McCreary County Fiscal Court recently signed a new 5-year Garbage contract with Scott Solid Waste. The previous contract expired in January 2023. The original contract in 2017 was with Poff Carting. However, in 2019 Scott Solid Waste (which is a company owned by Waste Connections) bought out Poff Carting and assumed the remainder of the contract. This was perfectly legal according to the previous contract. The McCreary County Fiscal Court advertised for bids for Garbage services well in advance of the termination date of the existing contract. We even reached out to other companies to see if they were interested in bidding on the contract. When it came time to open the bids in court, only Scott Solid Waste submitted a bid. Pulaski county had the same situation with Scott Solid Waste turning in the only bid.
We feel like we got a very fair rate. Our rates being $17.50 a month, plus those with a Homestead Exemption and Senior citizens pay $13.95 a month. If you look at the surrounding areas. Whitley county – $22 a month, Corbin – $20, London starting at $19, Pulaski County went up $4 (with one blue can, also). A fuel surcharge is added when fuel reaches a certain level but that is also included in the price of your groceries and other goods that must be delivered.
If you really consider the rising costs of everything, your garbage pickup is a bargain. If you break it down it costs most people, $4.37 a week. A gallon of gas is over $3, a loaf of bread almost $3, 12 pack of Pepsi about $6, eggs over $3 a dozen. Point being — utilities, internet, cable, everything costs more because of inflation.
I know some are not happy with the blue bins and the capacity size. Having these containers will make it safer, cleaner, and more efficient. Recycling your plastic, cans, and cardboard will also reduce the garbage that you have. We are amping up our recycling efforts and currently have almost 50 locations where we pickup cardboard. We recently purchased 6 more carboard bins and more are needed. We have 4 of the big Recyclable trailers at central locations in the county. The Litter Abatement crew and Road Department have started cleaning up random dump sites. We have had 7 FREE bulk drop off events at the transfer station. These events typically cost the county around $10,000. How many of these events did you have prior to the last 4 years? For the first time in the history of McCreary County, we have a Code Enforcement Officer. In conjunction with the County Attorney, 34 dumping/littering cases were prosecuted just last year! In saying all this, it’s not to brag, but to say we, as your County Government, are making the effort to help clean up our county. But we need your help!
Why is it important to take care of our trash? Trash that is not disposed of in the proper way can cause soil, air, and water contamination. This has a bad impact on human, animal, and marine life. Disease carrying pests can thrive. This also adversely affects the economy, (tourism, businesses, investors who would like to relocate). I know that this is not a problem that is exclusive to our county, but I feel like we could be a model for other communities in the state. We have such natural beauty and I think we all would like to preserve it for our kids and future generations to come. Don’t we owe that to them?
If you have questions or ideas for future articles, please contact me at 376-2413 or email me at bgreene@mccrearycounty.com.
