Minute with the Mayor

Question: What is the status of the brush pickup in the city?  Do you have a timeframe as to when the service will start back up?

Answer: When the county had issues with the landfill and eventually sold the landfill without the city being represented, it created a hardship on the city trash and brush pickup. 

We (the City of Sparta), are currently hauling our trash to Warren County.  We are making two trips each day to dispose of the city trash.  As of two months ago, the landfill began charging a price that we did not budget for, and that cost created another problem for the city.  That is the reason we had to stop picking up the brush.  We tried to burn our trash, but the state stopped us from burning brush that was brought to a spot to burn.  Residents can still burn their own brush on their own property as long as they get a burn permit from the fire department.

With the problems listed above, we are active in finding a solution that will be good for our residents in the city limits.  We are meeting with Waste Management this week to discuss this very topic.  As of this writing, we do not have a date to restart the brush pickup.

The City of Sparta is very thankful for everyone understanding that this is a problem and we are working to get our services restored to our residents.  I will do all I can to keep our city informed of the progress on this issue.

Thank you for the question.

Stay safe, Sparta!  God bless and finish strong.

Jerry Lowery, Mayor