The McDowell County Solid Waste Authority Board continued its ongoing community outreach October 9 by holding its regularly scheduled monthly meeting at the Gary Community Room.
SWA Board Chairman Harold McBride presided, with board members Carl Mullins, David Falin, Henry Paul and Randall Patton in attendance.
Following the approval of the bills and the minutes from the September 11 meeting, the Board received an update from Vice Chairman Randall Patton on a recent meeting with Wyoming County officials. Patton said that he and Copper Ridge representative Sandy Etter spoke with the officials about the possibility of bringing waste from the lower end of Wyoming County to the Copper Ridge Landfill in Capels. Bringing the waste to the Copper Ridge Landfill, rather than hauling it to Beckley, would create additional revenue for McDowell County and would save Wyoming County a considerable amount of money, Patton said. He added that he would confer with the Wyoming County officials again after they meet to discuss the proposal.
Following through on a suggestion from an earlier meeting, Patton presented the board a copy of the Freedom of Information form that he developed for the SWA, based on the state code. Amending the FOI form to state that requested information cost 25 cents per page, the Board approved the FOI document.
Chairman McBride inquired about a warrant on a long-time litterbug in Kimball. Litter Control Office Wendell Hatfield and SWA Office Manager Trish Blevins responded that the warrant has been issued, but that the litterbug works out of the county, which makes it difficult to serve the warrant. McBride directed Hatfield and Blevins to follow through and to have the warrant served, regardless of how long it takes.
In other matters:
• Blevins reported that she has distributed coloring contest sheets to local schools.
• Patton reported that the $9,000 grant that the SWA was recently awarded would be used for public education. “It’s the first grant the SWA has received in 20 years,” he said.

• In providing a litter control report for the month of September, Hatfield said that he made 54 contacts, gave seven requests to clean, issued three written warnings, gave two verbal warnings, inspected five sites that were cleaned and issued seven citations.
The SWA Board will meet again November 6, 6:30 p.m. in Iaeger. The location of the Iaeger meeting will be announced, McBride said.

SWA BOARD AT WORK - The McDowell County Solid Waste Board held its monthly board meeting in Gary, Thursday evening, October 9. The Gary meeting is a part of the SWA’s ongoing thrust to reach out to the community and to motivate more citizens to become active in the continuing county clean up. In recent months, SWA board meetings have been held in War and Kimball. The next board meeting will be held in Iaeger, November 6, at a location, which is to be announced. Pictured are board members Carl Mullins, Henry Paul, David Falin, Randall Patton and Harold McBride. (Photo by Cathy Patton