Local counties and cities
sold off one landfill in Lowndes County in the late 1990s,
and a second one in 2005 through the Deep South Solid Waste Management Authority.
Yet in 2007 the


Deep South Municipal Regional Solid Waste Management Authority (WMA),
with the same county and city member governments,
was still active, discussing a regional recycling station.
And it is still active today, including some of the same board members
the entire time since 2005,
such as

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson.
Hanson was not present last week

when Valdosta Mayor John Gayle said
Valdosta does not control the landfill, or perhaps he would have
mentioned that Valdosta through its longterm seat on the WMA board
does have some degree of control over the landfill’s operations.

I notice quite a few of the Valdosta City Council’s own minutes

record discussions and votes related to that WMA
including this item from

their Regular meeting of 4 October 2014, which was called to order by Mayor Gayle:

5. 
   Boards, Commissions, Authorities, and Advisory Committees
   
   1. Consideration of an appointment to the Deep South Regional Municipal Solid Waste
      Management Authority. — Appointed Richard Hardy, Public Works Director (7-0 Vote).

There must be some advantage to the City of Valdosta to have two members
(Hanson and Hardy) on the WMA board.
Certainly the average citizen or organization does not have that.

Bill Roberts, VDT, 5 December 2005,

Authority closes on landfill deal, Continue reading →