The Town of Kilmichael will be serviced by a new waste disposal company.
At Tuesday night’s monthly meeting, the board of aldermen accepted the bid of Arrow Disposal Service, Inc., more commonly known as ADSI of Abbeville, Ala. With a slight increase, residents will now pay $16 a month for their garbage service.
Former Public Works Director Johnny Pearson, who gave his last report at Tuesday’s meeting, said ADSI will give each resident one garbage can and will only pick up a can that has the company’s name on it. Pearson said they will pick up on Tuesdays only.
If a person would like a second can, they will be required to pay an additional $16 each month, on top of their current garbage rate.
Pearson told the board that he has accepted a new position with the county.
“We hate to see you go, but I can’t blame a man for wanting to better for himself,” Mayor Bryan Lott said.
As Pearson’s replacement, Lott recommended another Pearson – Josh Pearson to replace his father. Lott said Josh Pearson has worked with the town for a few years, has his water certification, and his currently working on receiving his gas certification.
Johnny Pearson said it will take Josh about five years to receive his gas certification.
Johnny Pearson may no longer be the public work’s director, but he’s not leaving the Town of Kilmichael, he will now be the town’s gas operator.
“I’ve been happy here, I’m happy now. This is just an opportunity that I can’t pass up,” Johnny Pearson said.
He thanked the board for working with him and said if the town ever needed anything, they could give him a call.
“And I’ll be around. I’ll be in and out and from one end of the county to the other. If you need me, you’ve got my number,” he said.
Lott also said that Josh Pearson needed one more person for his crew and the discussion began on how much do you pay a person to get them to stay.
Board Attorney Lane Greenlee told the board the job market is wide open and the town may need to consider paying more than $10 an hour, especially with Biewer Lumber coming. The town needed to be able to compete paywise to keep someone.
The board decided they would address the issue when they sit down at look at their budget on Aug. 31.
Greenlee also said Senator Lydia Chassanoil asked him if he thought the town would be interested in selling its gas department to Atmos Energy, saying the company was interested in buying municipal gas departments.
“No,” Johnny Pearson and Lott said. “Not at all.”
Pearson and Lott said Kilmichael’s gas was in really good shape and a lot of problems they were having originally were fixed and they were not interested.
