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Travis Grable packs the new crusher run while Phillip Harris digs out existing asphalt. GREENBERRY MOORE/Staff
Baldwin County residents in the Meriwether Road vicinity will have to utilize another garbage and waste disposal location temporarily, county officials announced earlier this week.
County Manager Carlos Tobar said Tuesday that the convenience center on Meriwether Road will be closed for two weeks beginning Monday to facilitate the reconstruction work underway there.
County public works crews have been working at the facility when it was not open and weather-permitted for the last 10 days. However, Tobar said that has not worked out as hoped, and an alternative course of action has been chosen.
“In light of the Road Department projects and the rain delays, we will have to shut down the center for two weeks starting this upcoming week in order to complete the work in a timely manner,” he said.
Repairs to the center, owned by the county but operated by a private company, were discussed in June of 2023, when the operation of a garbage collection machine created a huge hole in the asphalt, leading to standing water, mosquitoes, and sanitary concerns.
Then-district commissioner Johnny Westmoreland, now chairman, brought up the issue at several board meetings, and a plan was developed to remedy the problem. However, that plan was abandoned.
“We were going to put five containers in the ground to make it easy for people to dump the limbs and yard debris,” Tobar recalled Tuesday. “But that was going to be too maintenance-intensive over the years. And, so we’re going in a kind of different direction.”
He explained that the existing asphalt is being excavated and a gravel crusher-run surface is being added.
The pit area, where the hole in the pavement created the primary concern, will be concreted, “to make it easier for people to unload their yard waste. They can just drive their truck in and lower the tailgate and push stuff out.”
Baldwin County Engineer Brian Wood said Tuesday afternoon the efforts thus far have been hampered.
“We’ve gotten some of it done, but it’s just so slow when you have to go in and out,” he said. “So, we’ve asked them to shut it down for two weeks so we can get in there and work five days a week and get it done.”
Wood said a lot more work remains. “About 70 to 75 percent is left,” he said of the asphalt work, adding that a damaged concrete wall must be repaired as well. “So, we’ve got a good bit left to do.”
Tobar is hopeful the necessary work can be completed in two weeks, but, if not, the center will reopen anyway.
“If we don’t get the work done in those two weeks, we will work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to finish,” he said, pointing out that the facility is open the other four days of the week.
This Sunday will be the last day to take garbage there before the temporary shutdown.