DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock said T-DOT advised the county to remove the convenience center in the Buffalo Valley Community.
Many DeKalb County residents questioned what led to the removal of the region’s convenience center. Several commissioners said they were also confused as they did not recall voting to remove the center.
“We don’t own any property over there,” Adcock said. “I understand that it’s a big inconvenience and I hate that, that community is suffering with that, but of course, we didn’t want to do that either. You know, our guys have to go over there and clean it up, so I mean it’s not something that we wanted.”
Commissioners made a motion to look for a piece of land to serve the area, perhaps also as a Fire Station.
District One Commissioner Tom Chandler said the removal of the convenience center caught him by surprise. Chandler said that now part of the county has a large void with nowhere close by to dump their trash.
“There is no surprise to me that people in that area were caught dumbfounded when this dump, when this waste disposal site disappeared,” Chandler said. “I would urge our waste management manager and this commission to find some replacement for this convenient site in that general area fairly quickly.”
Commissioner Greg Matthews said he was not sure how the commission needed to go about getting a replacement convenience site for the Buffalo Valley community.
“Tom, as you spoke, I don’t think the commission voted to have them taken, so I don’t know what the commission can do to get them back,” Matthews said. “Do I personally have an issue with it? No, I mean I don’t know if somebody is looking to be told to put them back. I think that falls under Matt (Adcock) and the director.”
Chandler voiced frustrations as the county has yet to build a new fire station for the Buffalo Valley Community. Chandler said the reason the county has not built a fire station yet is that the county is waiting on the Corps of Engineers.
