Tag: flow control

Worley Supports Solid Waste Flow Control Gestapo

Attempting to head off an amendment to the Horry County solid waste flow control ordinance, council member Harold Worley said, “solid waste needs a Gestapo” in remarks to the county council Administration Committee Friday.

Worley, chairman of the admin committee and normally an advocate for citizens, has long been a strong supporter of the Horry County Solid Waste Authority, for reasons that remain a mystery.

Generally a master at directing debate on an issue, Worley resorted to hyperbole when his attempts to stall an amendment to the county flow control ordinance were flagging.

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Court Upholds Horry County Flow Control

In the final act of the lawsuit brought by former Sandlands Landfill owner William Clyburn against Horry County, the fourth circuit court of appeals upheld the right of Horry County to establish a solid waste flow control ordinance.

This decision came down as county council is preparing to amend that very ordinance to remove construction and demolition debris from its regulation.

What is ironic is that the court upheld the county’s right to pass a flow control ordinance and now the Horry County Solid Waste Authority, the prime beneficiary of that law, is challenging the county’s right to amend the law.

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Committee Recommends Flow Control Amendment

The Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee voted unanimously Thursday to remove construction and demolition waste from regulation under the county’s solid waste flow control ordinance.

The amended ordinance will now go to full council with a recommendation for approval. It will take three readings from council to make the amendment law.

The committee vote is a victory for small business and a reigning in of large, monopolistic government regulation of private business.

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Horry County to Amend Flow Control Ordinance

The Horry County Council Infrastructure and Regulation Committee will consider an amendment to the county’s solid waste flow control ordinance at its meeting Thursday.

According to a source familiar with the change, the amendment will remove the requirement for construction and demolition debris to be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Highway 90.

If the amendment is favorably reported out of committee to full council, which is expected, a three reading ordinance amendment will have to pass county council to make the change official.

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Getting HCSWA Under Control

When Horry County Council tabled a resolution to sign a contract with the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) it took the first step to get an out of control agency under control.

This was a much needed and long overdue step, but only the first of what must be many steps.

In refusing to sign the contract, the county is now in the ridiculous position of paying higher tipping fees at its own landfill than Waste Industries, which has signed a contract.

A private hauler getting better rates at the county owned landfill than the county?

And for anyone who doesn’t believe the landfill is owned by the county, one only has to refer to the many statements by HCSWA director Danny Knight in which he said the landfill was owned by all the citizens of the county.

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A Funny Thing Happened to Flow Control Insurance

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum to the Horry County Solid Waste Authority Tuesday night. It ran into a problem while trying to foist its solid waste stream flow control insurance plan on Horry County Council.

Expectations are the S.C. General Assembly will finally pass legislation outlawing flow control statewide next year. Since it was Horry County Council, at the direction of the SWA four years ago, that established the only flow control monopoly in the state, the SWA was blindsided when council did not roll over for it at Tuesday’s regular meeting.

The SWA is now running around the county attempting to sign most haulers and all trash generating communities to five year contracts. If the customers agree to bring all their trash to the SWA landfill during that period, the SWA will give a $2 per ton reduction on its tipping fee if certain minimum recycling percentages are met.

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SWA Looking for New Flow Control Guarantees

While the South Carolina “Business Freedom to Choose Act” (H3290) remains stalled in a Senate committee, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority is making other plans to continue its flow control monopoly on solid waste disposal generated within the county borders in case the act should eventually pass.

The SWA is going to certain private haulers offering tipping fee discounts if the haulers will sign long term contracts to bring their waste to the SWA’s Hwy 90 landfill. This new “disposal agreement” would essentially keep flow control of solid waste in place for the SWA if it is outlawed by the General Assembly.

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The Case Against Flow Control

A bill that would make flow control illegal in South Carolina currently rests in the S.C. Senate Rules Committee awaiting a majority vote to put it on the calendar for full Senate vote.

Flow control is the term that means establishing monopoly control over the flow of the solid waste stream in an area, in this case a county.

It is illegal for private companies to establish flow control over a waste stream, but, currently, not for county government to do so. Horry County currently has a flow control ordinance in place that makes its Horry County Solid Waste Authority the monopoly arbiter over county waste.

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Flow Control Gloom and Doom

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority staff was crying gloom and doom last week, because of a possible loss of flow control, when it rolled out its projected budget for FY 2014.

The authority projects a loss of $715,000 in landfill revenue if the S.C. General Assembly outlaws the county’s flow control garbage monopoly before the end of this year’s legislative session.

The overall projected budget for disposal and recycling operations is $13.55 million. When Fund 6, the county tax dollars from the unincorporated areas that go directly to the SWA to pay for the convenience centers, is added in, the budget approaches $20 million.

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Government Monopoly Fever Spreading…

The urge to establish a government monopoly in sectors of the economy seems to be getting irresistible for local governments in South Carolina.

Currently this trend is being seen in county flow control ordinances that force municipalities and private waste haulers to dispose of their collected garbage and other solid waste at landfills owned or designated by county government.

Why is this such a big deal?

Because it supports inefficiently run government landfills and costs taxpayers money.

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