Recycling center to reopen Thursday
♦ The Lavender Drive facility is gearing back toward normal operations.
The Rome-floyd Recycling Center will reopen to the public on Thursday — the next step in resuming full operations following a shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Remote sites, Rome curbside pickup and a drop-off area at the facility at 412 Lavender Drive also are in service.
Sorting work at the facility is starting to ramp up and County Manager Jamie Mccord said he hopes to have everything back to 100% before the end of the month.
Public Works Director Michael Skeen and County Prison Warden Mike Long are continuing to review lengthy housekeeping plans relative to maintaining the plant going forward.
It typically takes 32 to 40 inmate laborers to run the operation, Mccord said.
During the peak of the health care emergency locally, in March and April, the county was not getting any inmate labor at the center. The number of inmates going to work has slowly been increasing since May 1, according to Long.
The warden said part of the problem recently has been a shortage of inmates. The Georgia Department of Corrections put a hold on the transfer of inmates for much of the past three months. As some of the local prisoners were released, the available workforce dwindled.
“I just went and picked up 36,” Long said Wednesday. The Floyd County Prison can accommodate 439 inmates but only has 400 at this time.
To this point, the crews have largely been focused on cleaning the building and the equipment.
“We are starting to take some materials this week,” Mccord said.
He estimated the center would be at the 50% service level by the end of next week and closer to 100% by the week after.