Bibb County Taxes at Work
When this sign was placed on the street near my Home on the Morning of May 15, 2007, I did not give it much thought. Then a back-hoe and a short wheel base dump truck went down the street. 
I then proceeded to ascertain what was going on. The Bibb County Work Crew was marshalling their staff and equipment to remove trash. Enough trash in front of a private dwelling to average about four foot high and cover the right-of-way for at least seventy feet. I then started to see red.
I took these pictures and E-Mailed them the afternoon of May 15th to the appropriate County Commissioner. We all know that these officials have been busy with the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget so I expected that a reply may take a few days.
While our Commissioners were engaged in establishing the 2008 Budget with the published goal of no Tax increases I do have a concern. How can a private property owner have a county work crew, county equipment and a dump truck make at least three trips to haul away the trash over a period of at least three hours?
I did ask this question of the Commissioner involved for this area of Bibb County. The question and pictures were forwarded to an Engineer. I am waiting for an answer.
The following is my first E-Mail to the Commissioner which was sent on May 15th:
Is it the policy of the Public Works Department of Bibb County to clean up heavy trash, debris, limbs and such that a home owner piles along the entire front of his property at no cost?
My Concern is that today a Work Crew from Bibb County Public Works is removing several trucks of such trash from a private home here in West Bibb County.
One Short wheel base dump truck, one back hoe with an attachment to load trash on the truck. People include the truck driver, the back hoe operator, a ground crew member and also what appears to be a Safety Man.
They arrive on site at about 9:00 A.M. this morning and are still functioning here at almost 1:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 15, 2007.
Or is is possible to have a County Work Crew and Equipment provide this service and the Home Owner pays for the service?
In any regard, I look forward to a reply on this matter. It just does not appear correct to me. Thank You.
I feel that two weeks is ample time to expend on developing an answer for my questions of May 15, 2007.
2 comments:
Flower Child received this report on Monday, June 4th:
"After the tornado and thunderstorms we experienced in early spring, many residents in Lizella, west Bibb and some parts of north Bibb were overwhelmed by storm debris littering their properties. As has been the case since we began contracting debris removal in the eighties, we waited a period of time sufficient for the residents to move their debris to the roadside then we began a pickup of the debris. This has been done due to the quantity limits placed on Southland Waste by their contract with Bibb County. In essence, picking up the two cubic yards per residence every other week that Southland is contracted to remove would have meant debris being piled in these areas for months before it would all be removed. For this reason, after major storm events, county forces have done a "one-time" sweep of affected areas after a storm to remove debris.
While our forces were in the process of completing this debris removal operation, one of our crews was working in the area near the fire station on Price Road. A resident drove up and began to complain excessively about a large pile of debris on the roadside (on the right-of-way) in the Weatherby Plantation Subdivision. Our on-site supervisor heard the standard spill about the county not doing for one or one group what cannot be done for all residents. It may be too late to make this long story short, but the gist of it is that the field supervisor, acting in what he believed was the best interest of Bibb County and in response to a citizen complaint, went into Weatherby Plantation and removed the debris from the right-of-way.
It should be noted that, at no time, did we pick-up or touch any debris that was on private property and not already on the right-of-way. I would also add that had I been the one in direct charge of that crew, I would have made the same decision."
I read you post and my first response was that perhaps your county is like some in California. Having worked with tree and debris removal I know that in some towns here, all one must do to have the "trash" removed is leave it in manageable piles on the street. Then the city/county comes and picks it up free of charge. It turns that all the wood and brush is taken to a place that where they burn it as fuel to and electricity to the grid. I Always thought that was pretty neat.
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