PENDER COUNTY — Pender County is cracking down on waste site security and adding improvements to solid waste facilities, as utilities staff also has asked for solid waste to become its own department.
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“When that facility’s closed, people illegally throw things over the fence, or they’ll go in there and do damage, take tires, or take scrap metal,” Commissioner Brad George told Port City Daily on Friday.
At a May 5 commissioners meeting, the board voted unanimously to strengthen security and add improvements to solid waste facilities. Pender County Commissioners approved a purchase order for a new camera system and a new, more secure door at its Hampstead solid waste transfer station. The spend is $39,000 and will include the purchase of newer, high-definition models of cameras, as well as adding six new cameras.
County IT director Marcel Miranda presented the request before commissioners stating live camera feeds would be available for staff access anytime via the cloud. Building Automation Services, LLC, who obtained the bid for the project, will also update the current door access system to improve employee and visitor entry.
Solid waste superintendent Susan Barnhill told commissioners at a May 8 budget meeting about a break-in at the center in Willard about two weeks ago, where an individual stole metal from the site. Commissioner Randy Burton said break-ins and theft can lead to problems outside of the loss of materials.
“They could do damage to the site, and it’s going to ultimately cost the taxpayers money to fix that damage to fences and gates, buildings, and containers,” Burton said. “There’s no telling what they’ll leave behind when they’re there.”
Port City Daily reached out to Pender County spokesperson Brandi Cobb for more details on incidents at convenience sites, but a response was not received by press.
In addition to the Hampstead transfer station, Barnhill requested all county centers receive security improvements including brighter light fixtures, sturdier fencing and new HD cameras to read license plates.
The Hampstead transfer station is the largest trash and recycling center for Pender County among the other 12 recycling and waste disposal centers countywide. All the disposal centers collect roughly 35,000 tons a year.
Building Automation Services and solid waste staff will be conducting walk-throughs of other convenience sites later this month to check existing security infrastructure and to create pricing quotes for necessary improvements.
Beyond security upgrades, solid waste also outlined other general improvements needed at the convenience sites, such as the addition and grading of gravel roads and improvements to traffic control.
“If you go to the transfer station, expect a 10- to 15-minute wait just to get to the scale because of the amount of traffic they have there,” George said.
He further elaborated all three lanes at the facility experience constant congestion, particularly from 1 p.m. until closing on Sundays, when the line often extends multiple car lengths out to Transfer Station Road.
The county currently does not own all of the convenience sites, which Burton said needs to change. The county currently pays rent to property owners for unowned sites; the county didn’t answer which sites it owned and how much rent has been paid otherwise, as well as costs associated with potentially purchasing property.
Interim county manager Meg Blue explained at the budget meeting the county has been looking into purchasing convenience site properties over the past year. Blue added county staff are also researching what land the county owns near convenience sites as potential relocation sites for these facilities. Any plans for relocation or property purchases would be presented to commissioners for review and approval before any actions are taken.
Burton emphasized purchasing convenience site properties is a better option than renting for taxpayers and solid waste staff.
“We can make improvements without having to worry about leasing and permissions and things like that,” Burton stated. “It’s smarter for the taxpayers to own these convenient sites than to lease them because we’re only limited to what improvements we can make on the sites that we lease.”
Commissioner Jimmy Tate expressed concern about the county’s practice of renting some convenience site properties for long periods, citing the Willard site as an example where the $1,800 annual rent has been paid for more than 20 years.
“When you add that up between 20 years, it’s about $40,000,” Tate said. “We could have invested in the land. … we’re investing in someone else’s property.”
To help with improvements, Utilities Executive Director Anthony Colon requested during the budget meeting to allow solid waste to become their own department and hire a director for that department separately. It’s currently a division under the utilities department where Colon has been running double-duty.
“They bring in enough funds to support themselves,” he said. “They need somebody to spend 100% of the time figuring out how to improve all of the convenience sites and how to provide better services.”
According to Barnhill, solid waste made about $7 million in total revenue in the last fiscal year, collecting about $5 million in user fees.
Burton agreed but expressed concern with the sticker program the county uses for residential waste disposal, calling it an “antiquated system” that needs to be modernized. Residents who wish to dispose of trash at convenience centers are instructed to affix a trash decal sticker to the windshield of their vehicle. Two decals can be obtained by residents at the Pender Tax Office or the County Annex.
“We got to get them stickers out of our tax office,” Burton stated. “Them people don’t need to be dealing with stickers if you’re going to be your own department and your own division and stand on your own two feet, you need to figure this out about our folks getting their stickers.”
Barnhill said the majority of complaints solid waste receives regard the sticker system, adding residents push back on placing it on their windshield. Some have also adhered the stickers to a piece of plexiglass and shared with neighbors to avoid paying for stickers.
“We don’t know who’s supposed to have a sticker and who’s not,” Barnhill stated at the budget meeting. “There’s challenges, so you know, I definitely want to try something different … We’re not there yet, but we’re doing research.”
Burton said once the sticker system is addressed by solid waste later this year, the county will inform residents of proper procedures moving forward via its monthly newsletter.
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