To keep the City of Elizabethton clean, citizens are encouraged to stay green.
After the recent production of the recycling drop off point located on the corner of Mill Street and Lynn Avenue created by the city, Danny Hilbert, street and sanitation manager for Elizabethton, announced the opening of the drop off point located at Lions Park near the Tweetsie Trail.
“We worked together with the Parks and Recreation Department,” Hilbert said. Adding that the area is fenced in, paved an features amenities to dispose of recyclable material.
The second drop off point is a success for the city after focusing on their recycling efforts one year ago, Hilbert said.
Elizabethton went through the process of building their own drop off point with roll offs, dumpsters for cardboard and paper, and other means to take in recyclable items at the Mill/Lynn location.
But it was an initiative mentioned by City Manager Jerome Kitchens that got the ball rolling for further development, Hilbert said.
“Jerome has been a big supporter of the recycling efforts,” he said. “We were notified of a grant opportunity in October for roll offs and dumpsters.”
The city worked with Chris Craig, with the Upper East Tennessee Development Agency (UETDA), and obtain the application for a $25,000 grant provided by TDEC that required a 20 percent match from the city.
Once the city resolution passed through City Council, who Hilbert credited for the success, the project was placed out for bids with dumpsters coming from Bakers Waste Equipment, based in North Carolina.
In the past two weeks, according to Hilbert, the city was able to receive three big roll offs, eight cardboard dumpsters and eight paper dumpsters – thanks to the funding provided by the grant.
The items have been split, with the new equipment being placed at Mill/Lynn and the newest drop at Lions Park.
Due to the recent success of the first drop off point and the second expected to pick up steam, Hilbert added that a third drop off point is in the plans moving forward.
“All of our recycling goes to Carter County,” Hilbert said. The manager of the Carter County landfall and recycling program, Benny Lyons, has proved to be a valuable asset, Hilbert added, with all the city’s material going to the county – helping assisting the taxes of citizens.