Commission Talks Roads, Landfill

By KATHY MUDD

The Jasper County Commissioners held a work session Monday evening to hear a presentation from a firm that would like to take over Jasper County’s dirt road maintenance, then the commissioners talked about the landfill, and the possibility of opening it five days a week.

Wendell Swartz talked to the commissioners about what his company, W.L. Swartz, LLC out of Montezuma, does, and discussed what to expect. Commissioners explained that Jasper County has 274 miles of dirt road, and asked how he would handle it. They talked about maintenance and repairs. Mr. Swartz said that many of the repairs are handled as part of routine maintenance and readily admitted that his company probably loses money the first six months of the contract, but once the roads are in order, his company can keep them in order.

There was a lot of back and forth between the commissioners and Mr. Swartz about what to expect from each side. The commissioners said they would like a price. Mr. Swartz said it would take him about a week to survey the roads and put together a proposal.

After the presentation was over, commissioners discussed opening the landfill more. In the discussion, commissioners learned that the recyclable glass isn’t really recycled. Cardboard is recycled.

Commissioners realized they could keep the landfill open five days for about what they are paying for two days since now it is staffed by public works department (PWD) employees who are getting overtime the whole time.

They also discussed raising the rates for the landfill and basically agreed they must establish a minimum fee as sometimes people only pay less than a dollar. They discussed $10 and $20 minimums, but made no decisions. It was a work session so they did not vote on anything, but seemed to agree changes are a must.

After two hours, the meeting was adjourned. The commissioners meet again next Monday evening to receive the audit report and to preview the 2026 budget.