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by Sarah Brown – Managing Editor

It was seen on social media that Dean Thaxton, LLC put out a QR code for citizens of Cordele to fill out a form in regards to their concerns with the new trash company and pick-up. Their post read, “Class Action Against City of Cordele, Continuing to Worsen the Trash Problem: Are you against having your trash picked up curbside and want to continue to use the alleys that were designed for trash pick-up?” This post has been shared to many large groups in the community, with the issue alone bringing up a lot of citizens concerns and complaints.

During the December 19, 2023 City Commission Meeting Doug Dean asked to be recognized and spoke in regards to the issue of trash being picked up curbside. He mentioned that the curbside pick-up actually goes against a current ordinance that the city has in place. The ordinance 14-17 that says, “at not time shall trash be placed in gutters, drains, walkways, alleys or streets of the city.” The citizens deeded the alleys for trash pick-up. He says that, “the city is not set up for street pick-up.” He also mentions the current issue with water treatment system due to the amount of trash that goes onto the street. He also says that he has been aware of the Advanced Disposal contract and that they did not do what they were suppose to do, as well the city did not enforce it. The city is not going into another contract that will likely not put enough trucks into the situation, they won’t pay their staff enough money and they won’t have enough staff causing the problem to get worse. Doug represents a number of landowners in the city, and they intend to take legal action due to the violation of the ordinance.