Downtown Trash Corrals Put Out to Pasture, ACC Commissioner Says

One of the most controversial parts of a proposed landscape plan for Clayton Street was creating corner trash corrals. Business employees were to roll their recycling and garbage carts to the corrals for pickup in a central location.

The idea was to eliminate the bags of juicy garbage that sit in front of restaurants and bars, which break and spill fetid liquids all over the sidewalks.

But at Tuesday's meeting of the Athens Downtown Development Authority board, Commissioner Mike Hamby, a board member, said that idea is going nowhere. Instead, solid waste director Jim Corley and he have come up with the idea of "continual service." That would mean that from 2pm until 7:30am, smaller garbage trucks would circle downtown, picking up bags as soon as workers spot them. The price for the smaller trucks is $150,000.

"Continual service seems like a good idea," Hamby said.

The commissioner also said that before the Homecoming Game on November 9th, the solid waste department will conduct a cleaning experiment on College Square. Workers will pressure wash the sidewalks and vacuum trucks will suck up all the water generated.

Officials want to learn how long it takes to do the washing.