CAIRO — The Grady County road department is looking for part-time employees to help guard new monitored garbage dumpsites.

The 30-hour positions will pay $7.69 per hour and involve manning dumpsites from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Guards posted at the dumpsites will check the ID of every visitor to the location to ensure it is only utilized by county residents in addition to ensuring garbage is disposed properly.

Interested candidates should submit applications at the road department office at 1978 N. Broad Street in Cairo.

County Administrator Buddy Johnson said revenue from sold scrap metal will provide most of the money used to pay for the new positions.

The county commission voted Jan. 8 to begin closing 35 unmanned dumpsites across the county, leaving five to seven locations open guarded by a part-time monitor.

The gradual process of reducing the number of dumpsites began immediately.

County sanitation director Stanley Elkins said a dumpsite on Beck Branch Road in Calvary was in the process of being turned into a monitored location.

An existing dumpsite on Ridge Road will also be converted into a manned location.

Elkins said an additional existing dumpsite off Broad Street in Cairo may be converted into a monitored site, though he has proposed it be relocated closer to the sheriff’s office.

The sanitation director said he was looking for a suitable dumpsite location around Whigham and possibly Beachton.

A manned dumpsite already exists on 20th Street in Cairo. 

At least three part-time monitors will be needed for each dumpsite.

Johnson said he hoped the plan would solve what he described as “a perfect storm in sanitation” resulting in numerous messy dumpsites across the county filled beyond capacity.

Commissioners met Jan. 4 for a special meeting with Elkins to discuss possible solutions for the issue. The idea of creating manned dumpsites was discussed at the meeting.

Johnson and the commissioners were in favor of monitored trash sites as a long-term solution to curb out-of-county dumpers and improperly disposed garbage at dozens of dumpsites in the county.

The administrator said creating a monitored dumpsite would likely cost between $50,000 and $55,000 and would require a shed and bathroom facility.