Bowing to public pressure, Clayton officials on Thurday sharply cut recent fee hikes at the county landfill and limited use of the Lovejoy facility to Clayton residents and businesses only.
The county Solid Waste Management Authority, reduced the fees from the minimum $100 a ton, a price that went into effect July 1, to $75 a ton or $40 for loads less than a ton.
The readjusted price goes into effect July 18 and supercedes the July 1 price hike. The new price will be in effect on a trial-basis for six months. Businesses will have to show their Clayton business license in order to use the landfill, Commission Chairman Jeff Turner said Thursday.
“We’ll reassess where we are in six months because it’s a capacity issue,” said Turner who also heads the solid waste authority. “We heard from citizens of Clayton County who thought the ($100 a ton) prices were outrageous.”
The change comes a couple days after commissioners heard a presentation about the landfill from Jeff Metarko, director of the county’s Department of Transportation and Development which oversees the landfill.
The solid waste management authority board raised rates in May as a way to manage landfill which is said to be nearing full capacity within two years. If the landfill has to be closed it would cost taxpayers anywhere form $10 million to $12 million to shut it down, Turner said.
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