Planning Continues

What is this community going to do when the Walter Hill Landfill reaches capacity? The Rutherford County Solid Waste/Advisory Steering Council met Tuesday evening in the historic Rutherford County Courthouse to continue plans of the course of action.

NOTE: County Mayor Burgess gave details of what happened at the meeting on the WGNS Action Line (click to hear show).

Middle Point Landfill is expected to reach capacity in no more than 8 years. At that time, taxpayers will lose free use of the landfill - worth at least $4 million annually - and the county will no longer receive approximately $900,000 a year, which is paid by other counties that use Middle Point. Against this backdrop, committee members are looking for potential solutions that will best serve Rutherford County for years to come.

Leadership Agreement

In an earlier WGNS' broadcast, Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland said, "This is not a question of 'if' or 'when'. The question is how do we plan now so that we have something in place that is economically and environmentally sound when Middle Point reaches capacity?"

McFarland continued, "The way we currently handle solid waste is inevitably going to change. "We are eager to pinpoint the best way to go forward - the way that best serves our taxpayers. We will prepare by taking steps that are sound, both for the economy and the environment."

Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess, also on the committee, said, "We are moving toward choosing a plan that we can recommend to the community. Committee members have visited several other communities and evaluated their approaches to solid waste disposal. We have studied an array of options.

"Now, we can focus on the best options for Rutherford County and move ahead on what will work best in our communities."

No matter how authorities determine the waste issue will be resolved, the topic of recycling continues to be a part of the plan.

The committee includes representatives from Rutherford County government as well as the cities of Murfreesboro, Smyrna, LaVergne, and Eagleville.

For more information on this and other developments about the issue of Rutherford County's solid waste future, visit RenewalRutherford.com.

Members of the advisory committee include:

Rutherford County

• Mayor Burgess
• Mike Kusch, County Commissioner
• Lynnisse Roehrich-Patrick, former Executive Director of TACIR
• Dr. Kathy Mathis, associate professor, MTSU
• Merry Hickerson, County Highway Department coordinator

Murfreesboro

• Mayor McFarland
• Kirt Wade, City Council Member
• Paul Latture, Chamber of Commerce
• Joe Whitefield, Vice President for Facilities, MTSU

LaVergne

• Kyle Brown, Assistant City Administrator
• Garlon Russell, Public Works Manager

Smyrna

• Harry Gill, Town Manager
• H.G. Cole, City Council Member

Eagleville

• Travis Brown, City Mayor