Mollie, Nakina recycling centers will accept trash from those who missed roadside pick-up this week
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
UPDATE 2: Mollie, Nakina recycling centers will accept trash from those who missed roadside pick-up this week
An additional option for Columbus County residents who typically have their trash picked up on Thursday or Friday has been announced.
Winter weather that kept trash trucks off of the road since Wednesday prompted GFL Environmental to move Wednesday’s scheduled collections to Saturday, and to cancel Thursday and Friday pick-ups, the company announced Thursday.
An option to take household garbage to the county’s transfer station at the old landfill near Whiteville will be supplemented with trash accepted at the recycling centers at Mollie and Nakina, areas where residential trash collection typically takes place on Thursday and Friday.
Trash from Nakina and Mollie area residents only will be accepted at those recycling centers on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Monday, Jan. 27 only, a posting on the Columbus County website (columbusco.org) said.
“Normal operations for both recycling centers will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 28,” the announcement said.
Customers with questions about trash collection services should call GFL at 910-499-4646, the post said.
UPDATE: Columbus trash collection will leave 40 percent of customers without service this week
Icy roads that have kept GFL trash collection trucks off of Columbus County roads since Tuesday will leave about 40 percent of residents without service for the week.
GFL Environmental had previously announced a one day delay for collections after Tuesday night’s winter storm prevented trash pick-ups on Wednesday. Cold temperatures that have slowed melting, and resulted in new or ongoing areas of icy roads including black ice, kept those trucks off of roadways Thursday.
A recording at Whiteville’s GFL facility late Thursday said pick-ups would be delayed by two days: Wednesday on Friday, Thursday on Saturday; with customers normally serviced on Friday without service until next Friday, Jan. 31.
Columbus County Commissioner Brent Watts checked on those plans late Thursday afternoon, and learned that GFL won’t have trucks on the road Friday, either.
“Wednesday trash will be picked up Saturday, then start regular schedule Monday,” Watts said. “Excess trash will be picked up if left by the can.
“This is the answer I got. I hate it for everyone.”
GFL will accept household trash from county residents not serviced on Thursday or Friday at the transfer station near Whiteville beginning at 11 a.m. Friday, Watts said.
Watts said he understands citizens’ frustration.
“I’ve had kids at home all week, out of school,” Watts said, “so we’ve got more trash.”
Remote learning
It’s back to remote learning for students in the Columbus and Horry county school districts on Friday, Jan. 24.
Continued impacts from a winter storm that dumped as much as 7 inches of snow in parts of the Tabor-Loris Community Tuesday night into Wednesday morning has impacted travel safety and prompted nearly identical decisions from the state-line border districts for Friday.
“After a survey of our secondary roadways, we found that ice patches remain in shady areas and on less traveled roads,” an HCS announcement said Thursday. “The parking lots at the schools also remain icy. While most of the main thoroughfares are passable, it is unsafe for school buses to travel on the secondary roads tomorrow morning.”
Snow clearing by shovel and snowplow at the Atlantic Printing offices Thursday. Atlantic is the parent company of this newspaper. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
While Horry students take another eLearning day, those in Columbus will be in remote instruction, and “should log in to Google Classroom for details about the day’s lessons,” a CCS announcement said. “If students or parents have questions about assignments, please contact teachers via email or Remind.
Extracurricular activities, athletic and others, scheduled for Friday will be reschedule, both districts said.
Previous instructions for student support are unchanged, the announcements said.
“We look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday, January 27,” the HCS announcement said.
Other closings announced Thursday, Jan. 23, include:
- Columbus County government offices will open at 11 a.m.
- Courts in Columbus County will open at noon Friday. District Court in Tabor City will operate as scheduled.
- Horry County government offices will open at noon Friday. Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill operations will resume at 9 a.m. Friday, while recycling and convenience centers will resume normal operations at noon, as conditions allow. Parks & Recreation and Library facilities will re-open at noon, however programs scheduled for Friday evening are cancelled.
Look for updates on other closings or schedule changes in this story as events warrant, and a wrap-up of this winter weather event in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
