County waste convenience center coming to Bella Vista

The expansion of Benton County’s solid waste convenience center program into Bella Vista is on track and should be a reality within the next two months, Benton County Solid Waste District officials said.

Wendy Bland, district director, told the district board Wednesday, during a meeting in Pea Ridge, work needed to open the location should be completed by the end of January or possibly sooner.

Bland also said the district is close to finalizing a lease on the now-closed Rogers transfer station, near the Rogers Recycling Center at 2300 N. Arkansas St., for use as a convenience center in that city. Once that’s done, the district will be able to open a Bella Vista convenience center near the recycling center on Pinion Bluff Drive without adding any employees, she said. The district board on Dec. 7 authorized Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree, board chairman, to spend up to $30,000 on refurbishing and equipping the transfer station.

The county, working with the district, began a pilot program this year of expanding its convenience centers from a single location near Centerton to sites in Rogers and Siloam Springs to give residents more opportunities to safely dispose of household waste.

The expansion was spurred by the growing volume of waste and recycling material taken to annual county cleanup events. More than 2,700 loads were collected in two cleanup days in 2015. The county discontinued the cleanup events this year in favor of the expanded convenience center program. For 2016, the county budgeted about $161,000 for the program. That amount is projected to grow to about $199,000 in 2017.

In September, county officials said the amount of solid waste brought to the convenience centers already was more than double the amount brought to the 2015 cleanup events. A large number of visitors to the convenience centers were from Bella Vista, according to information gathered by the center staff.

John Sudduth, Benton County general services administrator, welcomes the expansion, saying the first year of the program has been a great success.

“I know they’re mobilizing and they’re trying to get it up and running,” Sudduth said. “The sites have done very well. The numbers have been up and steadily growing. I hear from people now who say they don’t know how they did without them. It’s a great service to the residents and a way to help us control illegal dumping.”

The program is still too new for the county to have data showing a reduction in illegal dumping, Sudduth said. Expanding the program should help, and Sudduth sees room for additional convenience centers.