BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's convenience center program for solid waste disposal may increase in 2017 with the county eyeing an additional facility in Bella Vista.
The Finance Committee heard a report on the program, which is in its first year as the county tries to replace the annual cleanup events, which were growing increasingly costly.
The Convenience Center
The Benton County Convenience Center, a partnership between the Benton County Judge’s Office and the Solid Waste District, provides recycling or disposal for Benton County households.
The Convenience Center will accept the following specified materials from any household in Benton County free of charge:
• HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE (mattresses, sofas, tables, etc.)
• HOUSEHOLD ELECTRONICS (radios, DVDs, VCRs, telephones, televisions, computers, monitors, printers, microwaves, etc.)
• HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES (such as room air conditioners, dehumidifiers, icemakers)
• METAL ITEMS (water heaters, grills, bicycles, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washers/dryers, metal fencing, metal lawn furniture etc.) Please Note: All food products must beremoved from refrigerators and freezers before delivery to the convenience center. Please Note: It is illegal to break or cut refrigerant lines. A penalty of $25 per item will be charged for broken or cut lines.
• PASSENGER TIRES – Up to 4 per passenger tires without rims will be accepted from each household per month. Fees may apply.
• HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE – Only specified materials and volumes generated by Benton County residences will be accepted. Fees will be charged for materials over the acceptable volumes. Non-household material WILL NOT be accepted, as it is required by law to be handled by a commercial hazardous waste company.
A fee will be charged on any business or commercial material accepted at the facility.
ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED: household or commercial trash, business or commercial hazardous waste.
For more information, go to www.bentoncountyrec….
Source: Benton County Solid Waste District
"I'm a big fan of what you're doing," Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and committee chairman, said of the convenience center program. Allen asked for and received support for a motion to send the proposed expansion to the Budget Committee for consideration as part of the 2017 budget.
Teresa Sidwell, environmental coordinator, said the convenience center program, with its main facility in Centerton and satellite facilities in Rogers and Siloam Springs, has doubled the amount of solid waste brought to the centers by residents when compared to the cleanup events in 2105.
Sidwell said the county spent about $87,819 on two cleanups events in 2015, with residents bringing in 2,752 loads of material for a cost per load of $31.91. From January through July, she said, the convenience centers have a budgeted cost of about $81,275. Residents have brought in 5,723 loads of material for a cost per load of $14.20.
Sidwell and Wendy Cravens, director of the Benton County Solid Waste District, briefed the committee on plans to open a third facility in Bella Vista in 2017. Cravens said the district is working on a plan to move the Rogers facility to a transfer station the district hopes to lease. That would free employees to allow the district to operate a Bella Vista facility.
Sidwell said the first six months of the convenience center program has shown a large number of participants would be served by a Bella Vista location. She said 13 percent of the visitors to the Centerton location had Bella Vista ZIP codes and a Bella Vista site would also be convenient for people in Gravette, Hiwasse, Pea Ridge and northern Bentonville. Sidwell estimated the third satellite facility will increase the budget for the program from an estimated $169,933 to about $199,033.
General News on 09/15/2016