CAIRO — Grady County will consolidate the number of garbage dumpsites across the county and create monitored locations to deal with the growing problem of accumulating trash following Tuesday’s meeting of the board of commissioners.

County Administrator Buddy Johnson said he hoped the plan would be a solution to what he described as a series of cascading issues resulting in dumpsites across Grady filled beyond capacity.

“What we’re dealing with is a perfect storm in sanitation,” Johnson said. “Everyone knows that.”

The county’s plan would reduce the number of dumpsites from what Johnson estimated was 35 locations down to anywhere from five to seven total.

The remaining dumpsites will be monitored with a guard working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

In addition to ensuring garbage is properly disposed, monitors posted at the dumpsites will check visitors’ IDs to ensure the location is only utilized by Grady County residents.

Johnson said he hoped the process of reducing the number of dumpsites could begin immediately, though he stressed he wanted the process to be gradual.

The administrator said converting an existing dumpsite to a monitored location would likely cost between $50,000 and $55,000 for the creation of a shed and bathroom facility.

Scrap metal, which the county currently gives away, can be sold to pay for the part-time monitors similar to Thomas County, Johnson said.

Commissioners faced the public for the first time Tuesday since the issue began attracting attention last week.

The county, which in recent weeks has suffered rainy conditions, wet roads and a lack of garbage hauling equipment, built up a large backlog of uncollected garbage during a time of year when there is already expected to be more trash than usual due to the holidays.

A previous last-minute special meeting to discuss possible options Jan. 4 was open to the public but unattended by residents.

Half a dozen people asked Johnson questions about the plan and expressed concerns at the meeting, which was the first regularly-scheduled meeting of the year for the commission.

“This is a disaster for this county,” Bob Kimmel said of the issue. “It’s encouraging people to go somewhere else to live.” 

County employees, with the assistance of Thomasville Sanitation, worked overtime throughout the weekend to ensure a majority of Grady’s dumpsites would be cleaned before the new week began, but Johnson said most sites were filled again by Monday morning.

“By the time they were done, one of the sites was already filled with carpentry materials,” Johnson said. “(It was) full. It’s ridiculous.”

Johnson said outside assistance would continue to be brought in to fix the issue until the situation settles down, drawing money from the county’s general contingency fund to pay for the help.

The county administrator said the problem was not that residents were dumping too much garbage, but that dumpers from outside the county were taking advantage of Grady County’s unmonitored sites to leave trash.

Additionally, Johnson said contractors such as carpenters were improperly disposing of the waste they produce, something which is not an issue at the monitored 20th Street location.

“At 20th Street we don’t have this problem. Imagine that,” Johnson said. “Because if they pull in and it’s a carpenter or someone doing work, they’re turned away to where they’re supposed to go, which is the landfills.”

Johnson said the county was looking into issuing summons to residents who improperly dump their garbage, which can later be turned into a fine.

Grady County, which does not have a landfill, transports its garbage to Thomas and Decatur counties before returning to load up again, a process which sanitation director Stanley Elkins said can take up to three hours.

Commissioner Ray Prince said the long turnaround means a single garbage pickup team can usually only make two trips per day.

A statement released last week by Johnson said a landfill in Grady County would likely cost more than $1 million and was off the table.

Adding to the issue, one of the county’s two garbage trucks was put out of commission last month after it was determined the vehicle had lost all hydraulics, steering and transmission functions as well as suffering from torque converter issues.

Johnson said the county had resorted to using road repair equipment to pick up garbage, a situation which in turn was leading to more difficult road conditions.

Until the solution can be set in place, Johnson asked for residents to use the 20th Street dumpsite for all types of sanitation needs. The administrator asked for people tossing garbage to tie it off and to place bags neatly beside a dumpster if it is full.

Johnson strongly encouraged rural residents who do not wish to transport garbage long distances to look into contracting a curbside pickup service.