West Tawakoni Agrees To Hazardous Waste Collection Center

West Tawakoni City Council agreed Tuesday night at its regular meeting to participate in a countywide household hazardous waste collection center.

The agreement provided three years payments of $1,137.50 for the city’s portion of the center’s cost after initial funding by a grant.

Brent South and Kim Quimby made the request for participation to the council, representing the Leadership Hunt County Class of 2009.

West Tawakoni was the first stop for the organizers after an initial agreement from the City of Greenville. Greenville is to serve as the lead city. West Tawakoni’s 1,750 residents represents 1.89 percent of the county’s population of 92,500. The county’s unincorporated area’s population of 46,675 would require an annual commitment of $30,338.75, and Greenville’s 26,600 would require $17,290 annually.

South and Quimby explained the program. South said the center was "not only important for our generation but for future generations."

An information packet states, "Americans generate 1.6 million tons of household hazardous waste each year with the average home accumulating as much as 100 pounds. Improper disposal of HHW is a growing concern in our communities and the unincorporated areas of Hunt County. Currently, the citizen of Hunt County have no local collection site to facilitate the proper disposal of items such as paint, motor oil, fertilizer, antifreeze, pesticides and everyday cleaning chemicals.

"Due to the lack of local collections, these types of products often are poured down a drain or toilet, onto the ground or in storm drains and septic systems throughout the county, adding to a growing environmental problem. Products that are not disposed of tend to be stored at home in garages or under the kitchen sink creating a poisoning risk for children."

South said one of the concerns the committee had identified was that everyone would show up at the collection center at the same time when it was first made available. He said the use of vouchers had been discussed in which each participating entity would be given a number of the vouchers to be distributed to its citizens. West Tawakoni, for example, would be provided with 45 vouchers annually.

Several concerns were expressed from city officials that the location in north Greenville would prevent local residents from participating. Concern was also expressed at the use of vouchers that would limit its use.

Quimby and South agreed to take the concerns back to the committee for further discussion. They indicated the plan had not been completed and acknowledged that the concerns needed to be addressed in a final proposal.

The committee hopes to secure a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the initial costs of the center. South said expectations were high that the grant would be made available since it was the first countywide plan of its kind to make application.

The current plan calls for opening the center by the third quarter of 2010.

A public hearing was held on the proposed budget before the regular council meeting.

City Administrator Cloy Richards said the city had been working on the budget process for the past couple of months. No one spoke during the hearing.

Approval was given to the preparation of a service plan extending municipal services to Sandy Lynn. The plan is a requirement in the annexation process. The council was recently petitioned by residents to annex the area into the city.

City Attorney Charles Calkins outlined steps in the annexation process that include publications in the newspaper, postings and two public hearings — the first on Sept. 22 and a second on Oct. 6. Proceedings would then need to begin within 40 days.

• A resolution was adopted for the bank approving purchases that had been discussed at previous meetings including the purchase of a police car, two maintenance trucks, mini excavator, five radar units and two digital video recording devices.

• Approval was given to secure a line of credit in the amount of $300,000, secured by a city certificate of deposit in the amount of $317,807.17. The credit would be used in the park construction project to pay the contractor as provided by the contract each 30 days. Richards said the grant funds might be delayed longer than the pay periods.

• Mayor Pete Yoho and Councilwoman Carol Solomon praised the efforts of Richards in the budget process and the way it had been handled. Yoho added that he was pleased with how all the city funds had been handled under the direction of Richards.

Yoho again pleaded with the public to shop locally and stressed the importance of buying where the sales tax would benefit the city.

• All council members were present.