Cummings: Don't Buy Second Can Yet

RISON - Cleveland County Judge Jimmy Cummings is urging residents to hold off on buying a second trash can for now as the county addresses its solid waste contract with Big Smith Waste Services of Dumas. Cummings made those remarks last week during the "Cleveland County Weekly Review" radio program that is hosted by Herald editor Britt Talent on KQEW 102.3 FM in Fordyce. While he discouraged residents from trying to buy a second trash can, Cummings did encourage those who would like a second can to contact his office at 325-6214 to get on a list for an additional can. While the Cleveland County Quorum Court approved a pol-icy during its January meeting to require residents to buy a second can if they want one, Cummings said the county's contract with Big Smith is for one can at each address and does not include any language for picking up additional cans at any of those addresses. "Here's the problem… we don't have any authority right now to have Big Smith pick up the second can," Cummings said. "They (Big Smith) have been willing to so far, but we don't have any authority (to require picking up a second can) as of yet." Cummings said the county must first address its contract with Big Smith before any second cans can be added. "We've got to get the quorum court on board too to say 'Yes, this is the way we're going to do it'," he said. "We need a collaboration between the quorum court, Big Smith and myself so that we have just not an understood policy, but an actual written policy as to how we're going to do this." Cleveland County switched it solid waste contractor from Get Rid of It, Inc. to Big Smith on Jan. 1. Get Rid of It was the first private company that the county had contracted for trash pick up. During the nearly 20 years that the county was in its contract with Get Rid of It, Cummings said the county had "numerous methods of dispersing cans throughout the county, which meant, in some ...