SNOW HILL – County leaders this week expressed interest in closing homeowner convenience centers in an effort to reduce costs.
Several of the Worcester County Commissioners brought up the concept of closing homeowner convenience centers — the dumps in Snow Hill, Pocomoke and Berlin — to save the county money.
“It’s something you can’t keep kicking down the road,” Commissioner Jim Bunting said. “We need to take a look at it.”
Tuesday’s comments came during a budget review as staff pointed out that the county’s general fund would transfer $664,984 to the solid waste enterprise to help cover the cost of operating the convenience centers.
Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said he thought it was time that the county closed the three facilities. He said the county’s municipalities provided garbage collection services and that many people throughout the county also paid for trash pickup at their homes. He said $664,984 going toward operating the centers could be used elsewhere.
“I think it’s time to close down the convenience centers …,” he said. “They’re not in my district so I hesitate to make a motion to do away with them.”
Chief Administrative Officer Harold Higgins said the county could consider closing the centers. He pointed out that enterprise funds such as solid waste were intended to pay for themselves. Currently, the convenience centers are not doing that.
Mitrecic said to keep costs down the county was going to have to cut services at some point.
“Taxpayer money is used for services,” he said. “Sooner or later some of those services are going to have to be cut to decrease those expenditures … This is, unfortunately, one of the services that would be, as far as I’m concerned, the first to be cut.”
Commissioner Chip Bertino said that if the convenience centers were eliminated, citizens would still able to bring their trash to the central landfill on Route 113.
“People would still have access to the dump they’d just have to drive to Snow Hill,” he said.
Higgins said that while closing the convenience centers was a viable option he didn’t think it should be considered before staff made a detailed presentation regarding the proposal.
“I think it’s an issue you’re going to have to look hard at because when you’ve made changes in the past there’s been a lot of repercussions from the general public,” Higgins said.
