Debate heats up on trash transfer center plans in Paulding County

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — People living near Paulding Industrial Boulevard in Dallas are working to stop a trash transfer station from going near their homes on the outskirts of downtown Dallas.

“There is no way. We cannot have that,” said Lori Blackmon.

Blackmon lives in a subdivision across from the property and plans to attend a public hearing to discuss the details during the Dallas City Council meeting Monday.

After public comment, Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to re-zone the land.

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Paulding County Commissioner Brian Stover owns the property where the garbage transfer facility would be built.

He said the plan is to put a 10,000 square foot building on the back of his 180 acres and hire 15 more people.

He said garbage trucks would take your household trash and dump it inside the building, and a semi would transport it to a landfill.

He said these centers are designed to be built in cities and cut down on truck traffic.

“It’s going to be loud and going to smell and lower property values,” argued Melissa Hope.

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He assures neighbors that deodorizing misters would be installed and said, by law, trash cannot sit on the floor more than 24 hours.

He allowed Channel Two Action News to fly News Drone 2 to show where the building would sit at the back of his property.

Train tracks run on one side and a wooded area separates it from homes.

By road, it is about 0.3 miles from the nearest home.

“A lot of us here, we own our own home, and we can’t just move,” said Blackmon.

No one showed up to speak against it at the first public hearing on March 30, according to city council meeting minutes. Neighbors complained that the zoning sign that was supposed to notify them of it, did not help. It sits off the main road.

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Stover said he does not control that placement. The city does that, and they put it on the property line.

“We need it more visible. I do not even see it anywhere,” said Blackmon.

The final hearing is Monday at 5:15 p.m. City council is slated to vote after.

Stover said right now, the nearest transfer station is about 16 minutes from his property on Seven Hills Boulevard, however, Paulding County Commissioners control it. Stover said the plan has always been to de-commission it because the number of homes popping up next to it due to population growth.

Plus, he argues the county has outgrown it. He said Paulding County homes produce 2,000 tons of trash a week. He said trucks are forced to travel further with household garbage because there are not enough facilities in the county to take care of it all.

If the city votes to rezone his land, Stover said it could take up to three years to build the facility. He said he would pay the city $1.00 per ton of trash. He said the city would have to pay him what is called a tipping fee, but that amount is not set yet.

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