North Jefferson News, Gardendale, AL

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April 14, 2008

Council takes issue with landfill

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Kimberly council members are against the idea of local landfills being opened to other counties’ garbage.

Santek Environmental took over Jefferson County landfills in 2006 under a lease agreement, including the Turkey Creek Landfill in Pinson and a landfill in Mt. Olive.

Santek is now requesting permission to accept trash from other counties.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, the Kimberly Town Council adopted a resolution stating its opposition to the proposal.

The council will send the resolution to the Jefferson County Commission, which is hosting a public hearing on the matter Monday, 11 a.m., at the commission chambers in the Birmingham Courthouse.

“I have some heartburn about it, because we have trouble keeping trash off the roads now,” said Mayor Sammie Maze. “At our expense, I’m not in favor of it.”

“These other counties can open landfills like we do,” said council member Herschel Suddeth.

Also at the meeting, the council adopted an amendment that dramatically affects business license fees for electronic bingo machines. There are currently no such machines in Kimberly.

The amendment sets the business license fee for electronic bingo machines at $150,000 a year. Previously, the fee was based on gross receipts plus a one-time fee of $2,500 per machine.

In other business, the council:

• voted to contract for two voting machines at $450 each for the 2008 municipal election

• adopted an ordinance setting the qualifying fee at $50 for the 2008 municipal election

• voted to activate the telephones at the Kimberly Senior Center as soon as the town takes ownership of the building

• agreed to participate in the 2008 sales tax holiday, set for Aug. 1-3

• chose May 13, 6:30 p.m., as the date for a public hearing on a request from John Farley to rezone six acres on Johnson Road from I-3 to C-2 for a self-storage business

• adopted two resolutions deeming two properties as nuisances: 8799 Hamby Road and 9201 Chambers Street

• voted to allow Ernie Bray to take family portraits in Kimberly as a fund-raiser for the Kimberly Fire Department. Bray and his employees will go house-to-house collecting donations for the fire department. He guaranteed the department a minimum of $2,000.

• voted to request from Alabama Power an outdoor light at the Kimberly Senior Center parking lot

• voted to have the county street department repair a hole in front of Town Hall for $1,250

• agreed to purchase $335 worth of equipment for the Kimberly Fire Department

• heard from Jody Newman, the new Kimberly Senior Center director, about appliances and fund-raising for the senior center

• heard from a resident who is concerned about vicious dogs in Kimberly. Maze appointed a committee to research a vicious-dog ordinance for the town.

The next regular council meeting is scheduled for May 6, 6:30 p.m. at Kimberly Town Hall.

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