Landfill policy needs work

In response to Chief Deputy Mike Barclay's statement about the trash dumping epidemic in Elmore County (Mountain Home News, March 18), I would like to point out a couple of things that could help better serve the public who will be taking trash to the local landfill.

Barclay states that you are charged for "some things" only excluding yard debris. You may feel better informed if you are told that you are charged $10.00 each trip for anything up to a certain weight and then additional amounts if you exceed that weight (sorry I do not know the exact weight amount) of any house hold garbage.

Additionally, the county resident should be informed that they do not take debit cards, so you must bring cash or check, I recommend a check because there is also no tracking process in place. I know this because I went to the landfill to bring some household items, unaware of the charge and only had cash. When I asked the employee how they are tracking the cash I just handed him, he stated "they aren't, but I could write down on a paper the amount if you need a receipt."

So, with that being said, I would like to ask, is there a tracking process in place of how much money is made each day? What is the money paying for? Is there a plan to make it debit card user friendly in the near future?

It can be difficult for the county residents to accept change when they are informed about it beforehand, but in this case, very little if any information was marketed to the public making the change even harder to either know about or accept.

With the current issue before us of increased dumping in the desert, Barclay's statements seem to assert that it has to do with showing up to the dump after it closed.

If the issue of trash dumping had to do with people getting to the dump after it closes, it doesn't seem like it would have become an issue so close to the charges being implemented.

My guess would be informing folks of these changes, purchasing a little device that hooks to a cell phone to accept debit cards and explaining why there is a charge, basically informing your county, may prevent this epidemic from getting worse.

In addition, I would like to note, that other officials that help take care of our outdoor recreation lands, were not aware that the landfill charged.

ญญ-- Cassandra Wenner