Fiscal court reviews snow removal, garbage collection after snowstorm

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, 11 p.m. — Nelson Fiscal Court took its first official action in the process to expand the existing county landfill.

Nelson Fiscal Court.

The court approved a resolution confirming the county’s solid waste plan was no longer sufficient and required an update. Getting state approval for the landfill expansion may take up to five years. The expansion will add up to another 40 years of use at the facility.

SNOW REMOVAL. Jim Lemieux, the county’s road engineer, updated the court on the county’s snow removal efforts, which have been constant since before the snow began.

Lemieux said that he called in his crews on Sunday to get their trucks prepared for the coming snow. They did so and started plowing early Monday morning.

From left, magistrates Bernard Ice, Sam Hutchins and Keith Metcalfe look over a document during Tuesday’s meeting of Nelson Fiscal Court.

The county’s snow removal equipment wasn’t immune to the heavy snows that clogged county roads. Lemieux said the county’s grader spent part of the day Monday pulling stuck road equipment out of the snow.

A county dump truck snowplow found itself stuck in snow on Campground Road Monday.. When a large wrecker arrived to help pull the truck from the snow, the parked wrecker slid into the dump truck, pushing it off the road. As the wrecker continued to slide off the road, it pushed the dump truck off into a ravine. The wrecker slid into the ravine and crews were working Wednesday morning to try to get both vehicles out of the ravine.

GARBAGE PICKUP. The heavy snows have made it impossible for the county’s garbage trucks to run their routes, landfill manager Brad Spalding told the court. Monday and Tuesday’s garbage routes were not run, and road conditions may affect garbage pickup the rest of the week, he said.

Residents can set their garbage out and if crews have the opportunity, they will cover the missed routes. Otherwise, customers should hold their garbage for next week’s regular pickup.

In other business, the court:

— approved a bid from Tapco for bulky item pickup hauling service;

— approved a $9,501 payment to update the software used in the county’s voting machines;

— approved the Design Review Board’s recommendation to approve a proposed 11,950 square-foot multi-purpose building planned at New Salem Baptist Church;

— discussed plans to build a new storage building for road salt. The existing building can hold 750 tons; Lemieux told the court he would like a building that can store 2,000 tons of road salt;

— conducted an executive session related to a business entity’s proposal. The court took no action after it resumed related to the proposal.

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