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Trash decals won’t go away next year


Johnston County requires the purchase of a $100 decal to use its solid waste convenience centers. County of Johnston photo

By Scott Bolejack

sbolejack@johnstoniannews.com | 919-424-1776



SMITHFIELD — Johnston residents were a year away from being free of the hassle and cost of buying a county trash decal.

But at the request of County Manager Rick Hester, commissioners last week gave the decals an indefinite reprieve.

“For logistical purposes, I wanted to recommend today that we delay until we have an alternative funding mechanism and a new solid waste director,” Hester said on July 18.

Even though commissioners in 2020 said they would end the decal program in 2023, they haven’t decided on how to replace the money the decals generate. And solid waste director Rick Proctor recently retired.

Hester’s request won a motion from Commissioner Fred Smith and a second from Commissioner Patrick Harris.

“Boy, that was quick,” said Commissioner Ted Godwin, no fan of the decal program.

Godwin argues that many Johnstonians would rather dump their trash along a roadway than purchase the $100 decal needed to use the county’s solid waste convenience centers. “The system is broken,” he told his fellow commissioners.

And Johnston, he noted, is an outlier in trash disposal. “We’re the only county that does it like this — restricted access to where we put our trash,” Godwin said. “And we invite it to be thrown out on isolated roads and some not-so-isolated roads.”

Godwin said he was OK with waiting until the county had a new solid waste director in place. But after that, “I think it’s a disservice to … put it off anymore,” he said.

“One of the things that I ran for this board 10 years ago was to fix this problem, and I thought we had it fixed,” Godwin said. “And to undo it now, I’m very sad to see that happen.”

Commissioner Fred Smith defended Hester’s request. “I just think he wants to have time to come up with a plan that’s efficient, effective, and I think we’re better off to have a good plan than to hurry up,” he said.

That was fine with Godwin so long as the county made replacing the decals a priority. “I can support that as long as we put more emphasis than we have the last two years because obviously, we’re where we are,” he said.

Godwin and Commissioner Tony Braswell voted against delaying the end of the decal program.

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