Yadkin County Commissioners took steps toward renovating the county landfill facilities and updated the county’s water and sewer policies at their meeting Monday morning.
Board members voted 5-0 to approve the following water and sewer changes:
• Allow multiple water meters off a single tap for multi-family residential structures, such as apartment buildings. However, the county will continue not to allow the sharing of a single tap by multiple separate residential structures such as several single-family homes on one property.
• Require specific documentation of leak repairs in order for a customer’s account to be considered for a bill adjustment. Requests must be made within 45 days of the repair and adjustments may be applied to bills for two billing cycles.
• Allow irrigation services to use split taps, which must be installed by the county.
•Add language to include East Bend water customers in the policy.
Commissioners also reviewed a first draft design for renovations of the county landfill, including entrance and exit scales, a new access road for the yard waste section and redesigning containers to make it easier to unload trash and recyclables. The design updates are in response to traffic congestion, especially on Saturdays.
“It gets very hectic there now,” said Keith Cain, the county solid waste director.
The board also approved changing from contracting with a Charlotte-based metal and white goods recycling firm to a local one called Triad Recycling and Metal Container Services for an annual cost not to exceed $10,000. The county will receive proceeds of any recycled metal less the cost of transporting it. County officials said they had reports of people climbing in the existing containers and taking metal recyclables that are worth money on the open market. The new container style will discourage that, officials said.
In other business, commissioners voted 5-0 to deny a request from the N.C. Department of Transportation made on behalf of petitioning county landowners to remove a 1,980-foot section of S.R. 1123 — known as Bells Schoolhouse Road — from state maintenance. The section is near the intersection with Asbury Church Road. The board considered tabling the request until more information could be gathered about it, but ultimately chose to deny it.
“The main reason is we don’t believe it’s in the public’s best interest,” said Chairman Kevin Austin after more than 15 minutes of the commissioners discussing potential reasons that may have fueled the request and trying to learn from online property maps — to no avail — who the adjacent property owners or petitioners may be.
The letter the county received from the DOT stated that a petition had been submitted, but no reason for the petition nor the names of the petitioners were included in the correspondence from the DOT. County staff had no further information about the request, which must be approved by the commissioners before state maintenance can be be removed.
Following the meeting and upon request by The Yadkin Ripple, the DOT provided a copy of the petition which was signed by Jody and Shae Hatcher of CB Eller School Road in Elkin and James and Gladys Brooks of 4133 Mauldin Road in Hamptonville.
Hatcher, reached after the meeting by The Yadkin Ripple, said he and his neighbors did not know the board would be considering the request and would have been present to answer questions had he been aware.
Hatcher said he and his neighbor “both have a 30-foot strip across the other side of the road that you can’t use because of the way the road divides it.”
Removing the gravel road would convert the area to approximately an acre or more of usable land for each of the neighbors, Hatcher said.
He added that the road is mainly used as a cut-through route and “everybody throws trash out on our land.”
Hatcher said he would reach out to county officials.
Lisa Michals may be reached at 336-448-4968 or follow her on Twitter @lisamichals3.