Watkinsville Council Adopts Waste Plan Update

Watkinsville City Council members adopted an update of the Northeast Georgia Regional Solid Waste Management Plan 2009 Short Term Work Program Wednesday, highlighting the launch of a new recycling program and ongoing plans for waste-reduction improvements in the coming years.

The plan, which was approved in 2009, spells out the different activities and initiatives local municipalities in the 10-county Northeast Georgia area will use to reduce 4.3 million tons of waste by 1 percent each year.

Residents in and throughout the entire county are expected to produce a total of 310,506 tons of waste over the same period, and will need to reduce that amount by trying several new initiatives, Mayor Joe Walter said.

The city has started a single-stream recycling program, allowing users to put all their aluminum, plastics and paper recyclables into a single curb-side bin. So far, 200 users have signed up for the $8 per month service, he said.

“We're hoping more people continue to sign up,” Walter said. “It's amazing how much it saves when you recycle.”

In addition to the recycling program, the city is also working to keep yard waste from reaching the landfill by maintaining several free mulch sites and is hauling dead leaves away to other sites so they can decay naturally, he said.

Walter also addressed last weekend's burst water pipe, saying that residents could have been notified quicker about the , and that the city would inquire into whether they may be able to use a county calling system to send out alerts by telephone.

“We're going to look into maybe better coordinating with the county,” Walters said.

At Wednesday's meeting, Watkinsville Police Chief Lee O'Dillon also briefed council members on a U.S. Homeland Security mandate that will require the city and county police force to improve interagency communications between police, fire and emergency medical technicians in the next year. The is allocating $1.2 million to upgrade communications throughout the county, and will require Watkinsville's emergency response agencies to purchase new radios, O'Dillon said.

Currently, police officers can only get information from the fire department or ambulance service through a dispatcher, he said.

“Under the new system, we would be able to switch over to a designated frequency and be able to talk directly with the people involved,” O'Dillon said.

In other business, council members:

• Approved a new business license for Dwayne A. Photography at 16 N. Main Street.

• Updated an ordinance on Conditional Zoning Uses.