Clinton County Fiscal Court held a brief call meeting Friday morning with only three magistrates present, Hershell Key, Ricky Craig and Terry Buster, as well as Clinton County Judge/Executive Richard Armstrong and Assistant County Attorney Gary Little.

The court unanimously approved the county’s Solid Waste Plan, which by state law has to be updated, and approved each five-year cycle allows counties to stay in line for funding from the Division of Waste Management.

The plan includes the years of 2018 through 2022.

The Solid Waste Management Plan is adopted via a county ordinance and lays out specifications, as well as boundaries for three solid waste franchise haulers and was last updated in November 2015.

The ordinance reads in part, “The County of Clinton and City of Albany shall be divided into three (3) nearly equal and exclusive areas for residential, business and industrial solid waste pickup and disposal.

The ordinance describes solid waste material types in detail and lists specifications of vehicles that collect and haul solid waste, among other specifics.

Following are some areas of note in the ordinance pertaining to Solid Waste franchises:

“No person may engage in the businesses of solid waste collection unless he holds a franchise issued by the Clinton County Fiscal Court authorizing him to collect, transport, and dispose of solid waste within the county franchise areas.

“Businesses and industries shall not have the option of contracting with other private haulers for solid waste collection.

“Awarding of franchises shall be to successful and best bidders…a successful bidder may be awarded only one exclusive franchise for a particular franchise area, and upon receiving an award will not be considered for other franchise areas.

“The fiscal court shall serve as the Solid Waste Area Management Board, and shall approve fees charged by the franchise holders to their customers, and no increase in fees shall be granted until a public hearing is held concerning the proposed increase.

“A franchise shall be for a term of five years and may be renewable, at the discretion of the Clinton County Fiscal Court. Each franchise holder shall make an annual payment to Clinton County for the award of said franchise.

“The franchise holder shall provide at least weekly waste collection for any resident requesting service, except, where the customer is more than thirty (30) days in arrearage of payment of the approved collection fees.

“The fiscal court (board) shall appoint a solid waste coordinator (litter abatement officer) to regulate solid waste activities throughout the county. Enforcement of this ordinance may be by any peace officer. All such enforcement officers are empowered to issue Kentucky Uniform citations to persons violating the provisions of this ordinance.”

Copies of the Solid Waste Plan, as well as related ordinances, is available for inspection at the Clinton County Judge/Executive’s Office during normal business hours.