Stephens Co. Changing Some Convenience Site Hours; Sets Recycling Start Date

Stephens County is changing hours at two of its convenience sites starting this weekend.

County officials said that starting on Saturday, the convenience sites on Tower Road and Robinson Road will be open from 9 a.m. until noon.

Administrator Phyllis Ayers said Stephens County made the change in response to issues at those sites on the weekend.

“We are getting a lot of illegal dumping in the mornings outside the gates and our marshal is going through those bags that are dumped outside of the gate and locating names and addresses from those bags and tracking them down for citations,” said Ayers. “We polled the area of some people that live around there and a lot of people would prefer to have the service open in the morning.”

Tower Road and Robinson Road are the only sites with a change in hours.

Meanwhile, Stephens County officials now said that recycling is set to re-start at the convenience sites on Saturday, September 5.

Ayers said the county is putting the final touches on the program before opening to the public.

“Recycling bins are starting to arrive this week, but we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get all the bins in,” said Ayers, who added they should be in by today. “We are putting stickers on there or signage on there not to use them at this time because we have to prep some of the sites.”

According to Ayers, that may involve removing a tree in one case or constructing steps or a ramp to the bins because of their height.

When it does re-start, Ayers said each convenience site will have a bin.

She said it will be what is called single stream recycling.

According to Ayers, that means people will not have to separate their recyclables.

“The Public Works Department is working on the signage right now to show you what can not go in the bin,” said Ayers. “For example, glass cannot go in the bin. There is no market for that.”

She said there will be no separating for the citizens or at the sites because it is done after the recyclables are picked up.

The county said items that will be eligible for recycling are metal cans, plastic bottles and containers, paper, and flattened cardboard and paperboard.

Metal and plastic containers must be clean and rinsed out, while paper and cardboard must be dry and free of food debris.