MEMPHIS, Tenn. — UPDATE 5/20/2020 - (SHELBY COUNTY MAYOR'S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE) - On Monday evening, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners approved Mayor Lee Harris’ Northaven Blight and Trash Removal Program. This is the first time ever that Shelby County Government will administer solid waste service.
For the last four years, trash and illegal dumping in Northaven made up 74% of the complaints from 38127 to the Mayor’s Action Center. The responsibility has always been on the residents to contract for solid waste pickup. In a survey poll, mailed to every Northaven resident by the Mayor’s Office, 78% of respondents expressed support for solid waste service by Shelby County Government. This solid waste service program addresses the longstanding issues of blight and illegal dumping in the Northaven community.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris: “Solid waste service has been a long time coming for Northaven. Residents have advocated for more than a decade to see a solution to the blight that has plagued their neighborhood. We are proud to initiate this service and to make Northaven a place residents can be proud of again.”
Shelby County Commissioner Amber Mills: “Solid waste service in the Northaven community will be a serious turning point. Through this program, I believe we’ll see a healthier and safer Northaven. I am proud to have supported this historic public works initiative and to help clean up this community.”
The solid waste service is poised to begin August 1, 2020, in the Northaven subdivision following the approval of the Memphis Light Gas and Water Division Board and the Memphis City Council.
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5/14/2020 - They’ll tell you.
Some of the people in Northaven will tell you how sometimes it seems nobody gives a damn about them.
For years, residents talked about all the illegal dumping.
“The community has a history of chronic trash, litter, and other illegal dumping problems,” says Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer Dwon Gilliom. “A lot of these problems exist because a significant number of Northaven residents don’t subscribe to any private haulers operating in the community.”
You won’t find palatial homes in Northaven. And if there are any swimming pools, they’re above ground.
But they’re trying to make things better - the residents are.
“As we continue to meet with residents,” Gilliom says, “... we informed them that consolidated waste services would cost each resident $27 a month."
Residents would be charged on their MLGW bill. It is supposed to pay for itself; a major selling point to commissioners.
Chairman Mark Billingsley likes the plan but wants Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies to patrol against illegal dumpers.
“We really need to stop the habitual dumping,” he says, “... the illegal dumping. I think the trash service is a huge improvement, but I am concerned the people who have been dumping will continue to dump.”
If commissioners approve this plan, and they are expected to approve it, the service could begin as early as July 1st.
