Talking Trash in Shelby County

Pushing trash under the rug.....SPEAK UP AND RAISE YOUR VOICES!

2010-01-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

According to Shelby County today: "In the discussion which involved the possible closing of a portion of CR 1000 also known as Roughrider Drive. Commissioner Pct 1, Roscoe McSwain, stated a letter was received from the City of Center to the affect that the Council had voted to close their portion of the road. McSwain re-interated that he still considered this road a county maintained road and made a motion to deny the closing. With a second from Bradley Allen, it was voted by all to Deny the Closing. (The City of Center wants to close this road primarily to take care of a problem with trash dumping in the area.)

Citizen of Center, Bob Evans, who owns land which is adjacent to Roughrider Drive, was allowed to address the court with concerns over the trash situation. He questioned if there was any consideration taking place over the issue. If the problem couldn’t be addressed by closing the road, then what would be the courts' suggestions? Judge Campbell said that he is continuing to talk with Center's City Manager about Regional Transfer Stations or other solutions. Mr. Evans suggestion was to set up something like this transfer system in each precinct saying that citizens need a place to take their trash on a consistent basis. Several of the commissioners, as well as Judge Campbell, stated that they are continuing to work on a solution to the problem. "

I feel for Mr. Evans for sure. I mean really, just because the land, or part of it, belongs to him that does not make it his problem alone. I also do not think closing the road is a solution but rather a band-aid. I am glad to see that the commissioners voted against that. Now perhaps someone will have to be held accountable for the real issue at hand rather than turn the other cheek. According to the paperwork and reports I received from TCEQ, this mess was supposed to be cleaned by the end of November or fines were to be issued. I think it might be time for me to follow up on this. I wonder if TCEQ knows that it has yet to be cleaned?

As far as my ravine, it is still trash free.....but the sides of my road are littered with beer cans, boxes, and just general litter that people are tossing out the window. I guess beggars can't be choosers but I will say that the idea of writing that tax check out this year with the way my road looks just burns me up! When will my money work for me?

I will also say that it saddens me that this page has not received more of a response. Do you guys realize that we really created a stir and for a while, at least everyone was discussing the issue which is more than what was happening and more than what is happening now? If we go away and stop talking, the problem does not go away...it just gets pushed under the rug with the rest of the dirt.....come on guys....use your voice. That is what being an American is all about.

Mr. Rogers and the EPA...RESULTS!!!

2009-10-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today Mr. Rogers made a personal visit to my home to share some very good news. The EPA came out today to look at the ravine near my home. The lady with the EPA just called and told me that they did write citations...THANK GOD...but not to the county for my ravine! They wrote them to the Sabine National Forest. My ravine will be now be cleaned! There were tickets, 2 in fact, issued to Shelby county for the Roughrider and Loop 500 dump sites.

If you are here reading this it is because you have the same probelm. Let your voice be heard and you too can see results.

Off of Loop 500

2009-10-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a man who lives off of loop 500 as well. I met with him yesterday and he took me to this dump site. I must say, if I were a police officer I would have never known this place was there. The biggest concern in this area is the trash in the running water polluting the ground water.

Roughrider Rd.

2009-10-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

I received an email from a citizen in the county who then called me to talk about Roughrider Road in Center. Honestly, when she told me how bad it was, I did not believe her. I went out there yesterday with my camera so that I could make sure that Kendra (the lady from the TQEC/EPA) could see them too. I was SHOCKED! My ravine looks clean in comparison to this mess. I would like to ask why we can't place some signs in "hot spots" such as this or even have police monitor these locations just a little closer than any other? When I say these pictures don't do justice...I am not telling a lie. This road looks like a landfill.

2009-10-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of the trash in the ravine off of CR 3385. This was after someone was kind enough to dump a load of drywall and bathroom junk! I think the problem is that it is easy to dump here and not get caught and people who dump know there are no police around anyway. The rest of the trash is there all the time. This is off of the road. The Sheriff's department and road commissioner have both come to see this. They pass the buck between one another in regard to whose job it is to clean it up. Why can't we get prisoners to clean it up? Newton Johnson says that is too expensive of a program....Travis Rogers says this is not his office's problem.

Tired of Trash in Shelby County!!!

2009-10-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

In an effort to make everyone's voices heard, I am creating this blog for the residents of Shelby County Texas. What has led me to this place is the over abundance of trash being dumped in various locations in the county simply because there are no "legal" dumping places. I started this by simply expressing frustration about trash being dumped on my road. When the elected officials I helped place in office turned the other cheek on my concerns, my frustration grew and I became a woman on a mission. For a while I let the dumping in my ravine go to see if there would be any improvement. There was no improvement and it continued to get worse. Recently, someone dumped a load of bathroom building materials near my home. This sparked my interest in this issue again. I have gotten a huge response via email from other individuals who are just as fed up as I am! I am hoping that this blog will give us all a place to discuss the issue together because the louder our voices, the better the chances are that something will get done. Please feel free to post using your name, or not, but please just post if you too are tired of the problem. My hope is to one day print these blogs and give them all directly to our elected officals to let them know what our concerns are and how they can better serve our community.