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Show JW Disposal Asks County To Yield To Entrepreneurs PANGUITCH A Panguitch business owner who has been providing pro-viding a door-to-door trash and garbage pickup service countywide for the past 18 months is asking the county to abandon its system of providing dumpsters throughout the county in the interests of private enterprise which he says can do a better job. Wally Veater, owner of JW Disposal, claims that his system, which has caught on substantially throughout the county, is superior to the service provided by the county and that communities can be much cleaner because of it. He says the situation is particularly bad in Panguitch where the county's dumpsters are situated. The sites, he says, are almost continually unsightly and unsanitary, bringing many complaints to the city and the county. Veater went to the Garfield County Commission on Jan. 27 to make his request. He had earlier asked the county for cost figures for its tax-supported system but the county was unable to provide a breakdown of exactly how much it spends to provide the current dump-ster dump-ster service countywide. A tax levy to support the system sys-tem had apparently been passed many years ago during the term of another commission but never applied, current commissioners had told him earlier. Tax moneys paying for the current cur-rent system are not identified as a separate budget item and are apparently appa-rently lumped in with other budget figures. Veater told commissioners that residential customers pay $7.50 a month for his service, with busi- (See Jw Disposal Asks County To Yield To Private Busin..: , Page 5A) ST Panguitch's JW Disposal Asks County Not To Compete With Private Business From Front Page nesscs paying more, according to volume. Commissioner Liston told Veater that J.W. Disposal's garbage collection was working very well for Escalante. Veater agreed his company was making it for the moment, but that to be workable on a long-term basis, a greater volume is needed. He was asking the commission to privatize the collection of solid waste disposal in the county. Veater said he was aware that the 'County was currently asking for bids on a new sanitation truck, an expense of approximately $140,000 and that by privatizing garbage collection, not only could service be improved and but more jobs could be provided in the county in private industry rather than in government. Veater said Panguitch in particular has a "definite need for an upgraded system" because "it's filthy all the time and I'm sure you probably get a lot of complaints on it. I know Panguitch City does." Veater told the commission that the Panguitch City Youth Council was conducting a survey. Results of that survey were to be divulged at the city's regular City Council meeting on Tuesday night where the pickup service was scheduled as an agenda item. Veater said JW Disposal currently picks up trash and garbage at 60 percent of Panguitch residences and at 45 percent of commercial businesses. He said he expected to pick up additional commercial stops in the next month. Veater said he had been told by the previous Panguitch City Council to return to them when he had the majority of the city on his system. "Our system would clean up ...the problem areas," Veater said. "We would put a can at each residence in the county and we would put the bins back at the businesses where each business would have a bin." Veater said his service, while not expensive, would more fairly distribute responsibility, with businesses, which generate more trash, bearing a more appropriate share of the cost of disposing of trash and garbage, rather than taxpayers paying for it through government. "We would employ more people because our system takes more time, but we feel like it would let the businesses pay for the garbage that they generate, rather than the government paying for it or taxpayers paying for it. I feel like everybody ought to be responsible for the garbage that they generate," Veater said. The commissioners asked Veater to provide them with more specific information and a better breakdown and Veater said on Tuesday that he expects more detailed information about revenues and expenditures on the county's system. Currently the county has revenues from its contracts for trash pickup from Piute County, from area state parks, and from several area federal agencies, as well as tax revenues which it must draw upon. Commissioner Dodds asked Veater, "You know we've got a big investment in the dump out there. What would be your expectations from us if we did privatize?" Veater - Well, I like the system of what we're doing right now. Use the tax money, collect it that way to run the dump and let the people pay us for the service we render to them. And it's separated. Or if you wanted to raise the fee for us to dump and take that off taxes for the people. Veater said his service would handle large items. "The things that cannot go to the city landfill, we will pick up. And we're finding out that there's a lot of things that can't go to the Panguitch City Class IV landfill." He said ihat the landfill is limited to tree limbs, grass clippings, construction demolition no mattresses, no furniture. He said that there is a tire pit and a dead animal pit, but that metal cannot be placed in the landfill. He said he has provided for metal storage that is Ramsay said he was interested in Veater's proposal that he could provide more jobs in the county and asked for more details. Bremner told Veater that if they opened up the trash and garbage pickup for bid, Veater might not have the winning bid, but Veater seemed willing to take the risk, saying, "We will provide a fair service at a fair price and we're local." Bremner said the county currently has two and three-quarter drivers on its trash trucks. Ultimately, commissioners motioned to look further into Veater's proposal, asking him to return on March 10 with specific and detailed information. |