Saturday dump access considered

By Melinda L. Lucas

Problems with dumping and disposing of  trash at Neighbors in Need were part of the discussion on a short agenda at the Albany City Council’s regular monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 11.

Lori Reames outlined the problems that the volunteers have been having with local residents leaving items such as mattresses and broken furniture that are useless to the ministry. They have to be hauled off, and the city container is not open on Saturdays when most people seem to leave the “trash,” Reames said.

She asked if the city would consider giving access to the container for an hour one Saturday each month, and the council agreed to look at the problem.

After discussing the issue, Austin Sherwood commented that it would be helpful to the entire community if there were regular weekend access to the container, and Ragan Riley asked if there were employees who might work those hours.

City manager Billy Holson stated that he didn’t want employees to “trade” their regular hours for the Saturday time, but paying overtime might be a possibility.

“There is a solution; we just have to think of it,” Holson said.

Other Business

•Rodney Casey, accompanied by about eight other people, presented city council members with individual copies of  the “Omega Brief” from the Texas Right to Know group, asking the council to review the data in case there are “mandates that infringe on the rights of people.”

•Holson reviewed the street work that had been accomplished by the city crew during the summer, and said that work under a $400,000 grant would be starting soon.