Commissioners sign off on amendments to county's sediment, solid waste ordinances
Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:20 PM EDT

By Pete Lawson,

Times Staff

Following public hearings Tuesday night, the Swain County Board of Commissioners voted for amendments to the county's solid waste and erosion and sediment control ordinances.

The solid waste amendment raises yearly disposal fees for certain business categories, notably bed & breakfasts, and the increase was opposed by B&R operators.

"The county's solid waste fee schedule "doesn't relate to quantities of trash generated," said bed & breakfast owner, Duane Keough. "There's over-billing. It's not fair."

He said B&Rs are producing a lot less trash than other businesses through the year, and he sees the differences by watching activity at the recycling center.

Keough was the only one to speak at the solid waste hearing.

The erosion and sediment control hearing drew extended comment from nine speakers, and lasted for 45 minutes.

All comment endorsed better enforcement of laws, but there were differences over how to achieve the results.

Several testified that the goal of erosion control is not getting done. Development is being allowed to proceed "without silt fences or hydroseeding" in his neighborhood, one speaker stated.

Roger Clapp, Executive Director of the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River, said the "river stays too brown too long." Although in drought periods the water clears, the fecal coliform problem gets worse, he said.

Contractor Roy Parton said he sees the problems, and makes sure that his sites are clean. But he said existing laws, state and local, are sufficient, if enforced, to take care of the problem. "We are not enforcing what we got," he said. If the county keeps adding fees for construction activity, it will become "too expensive for local folks to build."

County Manager Kevin King said that the county would probably not be able to apply a "stop work" order in the case of erosion violations. "None of the other 99 North Carolina counties have this provision." But fines are available as a remedy, he said.

When both amendments came up for a vote in the regular session following the hearings, Commissioner David Monteith asked to table action for two weeks "to give us some time for study."

"Will we know any more in two weeks?" Commission Chairman Glenn Jones asked.

The board then voted to adopt the amendments in separate 4-1 votes, with Monteith opposed.

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