County closes all but four roll-off sites

Posted on April 8, 2020

Beginning today (Wednesday), the county has closed all but four of its roll-off sites and reduced hours as part of a larger attempt to reduce the number of employees who have to leave home to work during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

During a Monday evening meeting, County Administrator LaWanda Pemberton got the go-ahead from the Taylor County Commission to implement the new staffing plans, which also include Taylor County Animal Control only taking animals or responding to calls in emergency situations.

According to Pemberton, the four roll-off sites that will remain open are Carlton Cemetery, Steinhatchee, Shady Grove and U.S. 98/CR 14. Those sites will be open from 2 to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday (and closed on Sunday) instead of their usual hours.

At the request of Commissioner Malcolm Page, Pemberton amended her plan to include placing containers outside the fence at the other roll-off sites (Harrison Blue, Bernard Johnson, Salem, Blue Springs and Eridu).

Additionally, the county will only accept household garbage during this time.

Although the commission approved the overall staffing changes through the next regular commission meeting in May, the roll-off site changes will remain in effect “until further notice.”

“In support of the (governor’s) executive order and the (President’s) executive order, I would like to ask the board consider a recommendation to reduce staffing to allow our employees to shelter at home,” Pemberton said. “This plan would allow all departments to reduce staffing and allow employees to either work remotely or schedule rotational staffing or a combination of both.

“This will allow our employees to shelter at home, and hopefully keep our employees and our citizens healthy,” she said.

Pemberton noted that the exact staffing plan will be different for each department based on their needs.

“As part of my plan, I would like to include that for all active employees, they will report to work per their department’s work schedule, and their regular time will be supplemented with administrative leave to make the employee’s pay whole until May 1,” Pemberton continued.

“Part-time employees will receive an average salary of the previous six months’ work,” she said. “Then, at the end of April, we can reassess the situation. I would also respectfully ask some latitude to implement this plan. If we have issues with our roll-off sites – which I know will be a challenge — we may need to change this up a little bit.

“I know it will be painful to close our roll-off sites, but this is only way I know to offer our employees the opportunity to shelter safety for the month of April.”

Page then suggested trying the containers outside the other roll-off sites, and the other board members agreed.

Earlier in the meeting, the commission voted to hold only one meeting per month during the coronavirus crisis.

Additionally, the board also agreed to give Pemberton, in consultation with Commission Chair Pam Feagle (who was not present at Monday’s meeting), the authority to make administrative decisions, including paying the county’s bills, which would later be ratified by the full commission at the next available meeting.

“We’ve already given you the latitude, you and the board chair, to make these decisions,” Page said after listening to Pemberton outline her plan. “So, I have no objection to it.”

The commission will re-examine the staffing plan at its next meeting on Monday, May 4.

Subscribe to our e-Edition and read the rest of the story. Already a subscriber? Click here to sign in.