After 40 years, Hamilton County will close the gates at the Sequoyah Transfer Station – the last county-operated garbage drop-off site – on Saturday.
Since 1977, area residents have paid minimal fees to bring their trash to the station for the county to haul it to the landfill in Birchwood. The station, on Lovell Road in Soddy-Daisy, also has accepted solid waste from private garbage collectors. Except for the landfill, it is the only garbage drop-off spot the county still operates.
The Lovell Road recycling center next to the transfer station will remain open.
In a recent meeting, Mayor Jim Coppinger told county commissioners his office has heard from several concerned residents since announcing the closure.
“There’s no longer a need for Hamilton County to be doing this,” Coppinger said. “The reason it was started in the beginning is because there was not a private service that was there that was capable of doing it. We’ve looked at this over the last two years and we’re at a point where we’re comfortable there’s providers in the private sector who do provide this service.”