LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — They haven’t been revisited since 2012, according to Metro Mayor Sloan Stewart, and during their August meeting, the 15-member Metro Council voted to increase garbage pick up rates by $4 for all citizens. That would increase rates inside the former Lynchburg city limits from $12 to $16 and out in the county from $14 to $18. That’s just a $1 per week increase.

The motion was made by Houston Lindsey and seconded by Bradley Dye.

During open discussion, Peggy Sue Blackburn recommended that Metro come up “with a plan to get more people to take the service” before entertaining an increase.

“The truck comes all the way down my road to pick one, maybe two house,” she said. “I feel like if we encouraged more people to signup, we could avoid a price increase.”

According to Mayor Stewart, it costs an approximate $200,000 a year to run five trucks a day. The service is voluntary – meaning it’s not automatically included in a citizen’s water and sewer bill.

“We also need to consider that the Murfreesboro landfill may go away in the next three years and if that happens, we’ll experience a big price jump,” he said. “Also, if garbage pick up can’t sustain itself and goes away, we’d have to look at adding a second Convenience Center for citizens to handle the increase in people bringing their trash.”

Several members asked about the potential increase in both ground water pollution from illegal dumping and air pollution from citizens burning trash should the garbage pick up service go away.

At the roll call vote with all members present only Blackburn voted no.

The next Metro Council meeting will take place on Monday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. All meeting are open to the general public. To see a copy of Metro’s policy for addressing the Council publicly, click here. To find a list of contact information for all Metro Council members and Mayor Stewart, visit Moore County’s County Technical Assistance Service page by clicking here. •

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