The eastern side of Elizabethton will soon see the creation of a recycling drop off point.
During a regularly scheduled meeting of the Elizabethton Housing and Development Agency Board Commissioners, Executive Director Kelly Geagley announced the Pine Ridge Circle location will be preparing to bring in the third recycling center within the city.
“We think it’s a great idea,” Geagley said. “There will be three sides fenced in and have bins to take in recyclables. It will be a great way to have the community to come together.”
A center for the EHDA was first brought before the EHDA during their regularly scheduled meeting in July.
Geagley worked with Elizabethton Street and Sanitation Director Danny Hilbert, who said the site was ideal when looking at the expansion of the city’s centers.
“We got to looking around at different parts of town,” Hilbert said. “With the location at Lions Field and Mill Street, we were looking to put another in place on the other side of town. For us to go in together with someone like Mr. Geagley and the housing agency is great. Our other sites have panned out well. It is a great way to help the city and the community.”
Creation of a drop off point near the EHDA location will come with relative ease, Hilbert added, with the city already having the equipment together for the location. The site will be across the road from the housing agency’s main office with construction pegged for the coming weeks.
Pine Ridge’s future site joins the Lions Field and the intersection of Mill Street and Lynn Avenue centers as the third to be operated by the city. Due to the success of the sites, Hilbert said, the Mill Street location will have to go through expansion.
“We’re going to work on that, hopefully by next week,” he added. “With the success, we’re having to enlarge the area there due to the amount of traffic it receives.”
The Lions Field center, which is near the Tweetsie Trail, has seen its fair share of usage with Hilbert adding that according to county landfill workers and members of the city’s department there has been “quite a bit” of usage since its creation in July.
While the sites have garnered success, issues still occur with people dropping off materials that the sites can’t take, Hilbert said. Each drop off point is suited to take cardboard, aluminum, paper and plastic.
“There’s signage at each location saying what they can and cannot take,” he added. The director went on to add he would like to see individuals continue to utilize and monitor the centers to help cut down on costs within the city and dispose of the necessary items at the county landfill.
Depending on the success of the Pine Ridge area, Hilbert added there could be a fourth site installed within the Southside community.