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UPta JHtllctt Nctns VOL. 117 NO. 3 Millen, Ga. 30442 LEGAL ORGAN OF JENKINS COUNTY SINCE 1903 Wednesday, July 19, 2023 * 750 Atlantic Waste Services submits permit for new landfill DEBORAH BENNETT Millen News Editor Ben Wall, owner of Atlantic Waste Services, confirmed that his company has submitted an application to the Jenkins County Commissioners for the construction of a new Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill. It would be located on property adjacent to the county’s existing Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill. At lantic Waste has been managing and operating the county’s landfill since April, 2021. Wall said that he is coordinating with the commissioners and the county attorney to complete the steps necessary to move the application forward as well as the adoption of the Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) through the proper channels. “These steps with the SWMP need to be taken whether or not the applica tion for the new landfill is approved,” he said. The proposed site for the MSW landfill contains 258 acres with ap proximately 140 acres being used for the design of the landfill footprint. The MSW landfill would accept mainly household garbage. Currently, all household garbage from the city and county is being trucked to a transfer station in Sylvania where it is picked up by Atlantic Waste and transported to Superior Landfill in Chatham County. The cost to truck and dispose of the MSW refuse is approximately $60 a ton, Wall said. Having an MSW landfill in the county would reduce the cost to approxi mately $28 a ton. This translates to a savings of $l-$2 on sanitation bills for citizens. Also, Superior Landfill is expected to be filled in eight years. Wall said, he expects it to be at least 4 to 5 years before the new facility can be constructed and accepting waste. “The major differences between the proposed new landfill and the current one is the type of refuse that would be accepted and the liner system” Wall said. The current C& D landfill only accepts concrete, wood from build ings, roofing shingles, g^ metals, bricks, glass, plastics, sheetrock, sal- ATLANTIC ’ vaged building compo- 3 Joyce Mixon ffifirffm Wtftf (t fttfiffOlg' Joyce Mixon is shown with the portrait of herseif as a 5-year-old child in Germany that led to her desire to paint. DEBORAH BENNETT Millen News Editor It is often said that a child’s ex periences can influence their life choices and set them upon the path their life will travel. Joyce Mixon believes this is true for her. There is no doubt in her mind that an experience she had as a 5-year-old child in Germany placed a deep desire in her heart that has stayed with her all of her life. “My dad was in the military, and we were living in Germany. There was a man there who painted portraits. We went to him and had our portraits done. I remember watching him, and there has just been something in me all my life that makes me want to do what he did,” Mixon said. She began fulfilling that desire in 2005 when she started watching and recording television programs featuring painter Bob Ross. “I remember thinking, ‘I can do that.’ And, I just started trying,” Mixon said. Her talent, her gift, she believes is “God-given.” “I can’t paint a thing unless the Lord gives me the picture. I have to ask Him to give me something and pray about,” Mixon said. Then, something usually catches her eye and an idea begins to form. “I’ve had people come to me and ask me to paint something specific for them. And, I have tried, but I just can’t do it. I hate telling them that I can’t, but it has to come from God. It has to have some purpose behind it,” Mixon said. “The most emotional painting I have done was for a woman who had lost her daughter tragically. I kept getting this picture of a young girl, sitting with her back to me, with birds and daisies all around her. So, I painted her daughter with her long flowing hair with her back to me, swinging in a swing with birds in the tree, and she was holding a daisy. It was a God-sent thing,” Mixon recalls. She said she found out later that daisies were the girl’s & OFF favorite flower. occ “I did one of Jesus MIXOB, for another lady who 3 Shown with two of her many paintings is Joyce Mixon There was standing room only in the meeting room of the county commis sioners as they heard comments from the public concerning the possibility of the construction/expansion of a landfill in the county by Atlantic Waste Services. Landfill proposal draws fire from concerned citizens DEBORAH BENNETT Millen News Editor A large crowd of concerned citi zens turned out for the June 11th meeting of the Jenkins County Com missioners in response to a proposal to construct a landfill from Atlantic Waste Services, the company that currently manages and operates the county landfill. The meeting, however, failed to meet the attendance quorum of three. Commissioners attending were Chair man Horace Weathersby III and Hiller Spann. Absent were Commission ers Johnathan Powell, Pame- SEE lia Dwight and COMMISSIONERS, Tracie Coney. 3 you ML. we get the answer! DEBORAH BENNETT Millen News Editor The Millen News has received a question from a city resident inquir ing as to why the city doesn’t publish notices in the newspaper when the water hydrants will be flushed. They stated that their clothes come out of the washing machine looking rusty. We presented the question to City Manager Jeff Brantley. “We send notices out in the utility bills when we have a planned hydrant flush. The tank maintenance company we use is planning to flush the tanks by year end, but I’ve not been given any dates. The hydrant flushing is usually what causes the colored water issues.” Opposition against new landfill intensifies DEBORAH BENNETT Millen News Editor Jenkins County citizens opposed to the construction of a new landfill in the county held a meeting Tuesday night to organize their efforts. Spear heading the group are Vondessa Lee, Sherry Chance, Karen Johnson, and Danielle Davis. The movement began when it became public that Atlantic Waste Services had submitted a landfill application to the Jenkins County Commissioners for construction of a new landfill adjacent to the county’s present one. The company currently manages and operates the county’s landfill. Those attending the meeting were updated on the organization’s efforts so far. Chance reported that the Jenkins County Commissioners were contact ed and that four of the five members were receptive to hearing concerns and questions from local citizens. She said that the phone numbers of the commissioners would be provided and urged everyone to call them and express their concerns and ask ques tions. Lee said that she had been in touch with Ogeechee River Keeper’s legal team and that they are “fighting with us.” She encouraged everyone to join Ogeechee River Keeper and make a monetary donation to the organiza tion. Johnson reported on the group’s Facebook page, People of Jenkins County Against the Landfill, and urged them to join. She said a petition was being prepared and urged all to sign it when presented. Attendees were asked to break up into smaller groups and spend sev eral minutes reviewing copies of the county’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), a 38-page document which will be voted upon soon by the commissioners. The groups were then instructed to select one person to share one thing from what they learned or are concerned about after their brief review of the SWMP. Their remarks should begin with; “We wonder about...” they were told. Things the group members “won dered about” includ- SEE ed: monitoring of the present landfill, LANDFILL, leaching, cost of 9 James Saxon addresses local citizens opposed to the construction of a new landfill in the county during a meeting held Tuesday night. Saxon was a hazardous waste truck driver for 43 years.