Rutherford County Begins Planning for Life After Mt. Trashmore

MURFREESBORO, TN — Locals call it Mt. Trashmore: the Middle Point landfill outside of Murfreesboro, where 19 counties, including Davidson, dump their trash.

It is predicted the massive landflll will reach capacity in eight years. That seems like a long-time but with the difficulties is finding a suitable site — there are hundreds of state and federal regulatory requirements to meet, plus there will inevitably be neighbors to assuage — Rutherford County is preparing itself for life after Mt. Trashmore.

The county has formed an advisory committee with members from each municipal government plus county officials to consider options for handling solid waste in the future.

The first meeting of the Rutherford County Solid Waste/Advisory Steering Council is set for 6 to 8:30 pm December12 at the Murfreesboro City Hall, 111 W. Vine St. The public is invited to attend and the meeting will be streamed on local community access television.

“Our communities are fortunate to be able to plan ahead and do this right,” said Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess, a member of the advisory committee. “We are blessed with tremendous growth here, but as we grow, so do our infrastructure needs – whether it is law enforcement and fire protection, or solid waste.

“Our residents have had the advantage of not paying fees to use the landfill, but that is certain to change when Middle Point is full. We want a solution that is not only responsible and sustainable, but that is fiscally sound for the taxpayer.”

Rutherford County residents have paid no tipping fees to use the landfill, which amounts to an annual savings of at least $4 million. Eighteen other counties annually pay total fees of $900,000 to use the facility.

After a series of open meetings, advisory committee members and consultants – which have been commissioned to study the Middle Point situation – will map out and present options for going forward.

Members of the advisory committee include:

Rutherford County

· Mayor Burgess

· Mike Kusch, County Commissioner

· Lynnisse Roehrich-Patrick, former Executive Director of TACIR

· Dr. Kathy Mathis, associate professor, MTSU

· Merry Hickerson, County Highway Department coordinator

Murfreesboro

· Mayor McFarland

· Kirt Wade, City Council Member

· Paul Latture, Chamber of Commerce

· Joe Whitefield, Vice President for Facilities, MTSU

· Jeremy Harrison, All in One Recycling

La Vergne

· Kyle Brown, Assistant City Administrator

· Garlon Russell, Public Works Manager

Smyrna

· Harry Gill, Town Manager

· H.G. Cole, Town Council Member

Eagleville

· Andrew Ellard, City Manager

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