City's landfill to close to public April 1

By Holli Keaton (Contact) | Troy Messenger

Published Monday, March 15, 2010

The city of Troy knew the day was coming when it would have to close its landfill — it just didn’t know it would be so soon.

Come April 1, the landfill will close to the public after nearly reaching capacity.

“The city will be out of the landfill business,” said Vaughn Daniels, Troy’s public works director. “It will stop people from coming to the landfill to bring materials.”

But, Daniels said those residents or businesses that don’t typically bring debris or other materials for disposal will likely not notice much change.

“We’ll continue to provide the services we currently provide,” Daniels said. “We’ll continue to provide our curbside service for debris pickup, limbs and furniture, and we’ll continue to do monthly district cleanups for larger items. The only service we won’t be able to continue is people bringing things to the landfill.”

Daniels said that will be an impact on many of the city’s residents, as people often bring yard or construction debris for disposal.

For example, residents who do yard work on Saturday may not want to wait until their normal garbage pickup day to dispose of limbs, and Daniels said those are the people who are regular visitors to the city’s landfill.

Daniels said the 27-acre landfill is only mandated to reach a certain height, and that level is quickly approaching.

Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said the city has been in the landfill business for the last 30 to 40 years.

In 1994, the city closed the part of its landfill that disposed of garbage and became only a construction and demolition business.

Daniels said since the city has been taking its normal garbage pickup to Brundidge, but he isn’t sure where the materials the Troy Landfill now holds will be disposed.

“I’m not sure where we’ll take it. We’ll take it to some other landfill,” he said.

Lunsford said there are no plans for any additional charges to trash pickup.

Daniels said there will be changes to the way these places do business.

“People will have to separate these items because we will have to take them to different places,” Daniels said.

Lunsford said there are also no plans for the landfill’s space once it closes.

The city would not be able to build anything on it, but Daniels said it could be used for something like farmland.

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