Council Wants to Hear from Community = Single-Stream Recycling a Goal of University

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the April 27 meeting of the Sewanee Community Council, Vice-Chancellor John McCardell thanked council representatives and community members for participating in the picnic and informal meeting with the University trustees on April 23. A discussion followed about how to improve the effectiveness of the council in giving voice to community concerns.

In the past, the community interaction with the University trustees occurred at a town meeting where the community heard reports from University entities such as the Lease Committee and then had an opportunity to raise questions.

A council meeting visitor commented that a single question often dominated the discussion. Council representatives voiced approval of having an opportunity to talk one-on-one with trustees. Representative David Coe said, “I was impressed with the interest the trustees showed in our small town issues.”

Responding to the complaint that some community members missed the town meeting format, council representative Barbara Schlicting said, “We could have updates here, and grievances should be brought here.” McCardell agreed. “This is the place where those things should be brought first,” he said. Council representative Phil White suggested prior to the next trustees’ visit in October, the council invite the community to air grievances and raise issues at a council meeting designated for that purpose.

Coe suggested the council again host a gathering where Council representatives meet with their constituent like the event held in March 2013.

To make council representation more democratic, a committee composed of Pam Byerly, John Flynn, Barbara Schlicting, Theresa Shackelford and John Swallow will address redrawing district boundaries to equalize population distribution, electing at-large representatives, and possibly reducing term lengths from four to two years.

The council approved meeting dates for 2015–16, scheduling regular meetings for Aug. 31, Oct. 16, Jan. 25, Mar. 28 and May 23. On non-meeting months, a day was reserved for a meeting if community issues dictated a need.

Community members recommended new signage at two locations, a blue “Hospital” sign at the entrance to Emerald Hodgson Hospital and a “Trucks Entering Highway” sign at the junction of Hwy. 41A and Finney Lane. Sewanee police chief Marie Eldridge will contact the Franklin County Highway Department about these requests.

Updating the council on recycling and trash collection concerns, Michael Gardner the University’s director of physical plant services, said the University’s goal is to adopt single-stream recycling, where the recycling items do not require sorting. In doing so, however, it may make it necessary to have separate vendors for residential and University trash collection.

Franklin County Solid Waste Management does not offer single-stream recycling, Gardner said, and there are no Franklin County vendors that offer the service. Gardner said discussion was underway with four vendors, including the current service provider, Joe B. Long. 

Gardner plans to have a contract proposal at the next council meeting scheduled for June 22.