The next event in the series of non-partisan Town Hall Meetings sponsored by the Fannin County Democrats has been slated for January 17. The topic for this next ‘Clean&Green’ meeting will be "Changing Land Use in Fannin County – Challenges and Opportunities."
The first ‘Clean&Green’ meeting was held November 15 at Heritage Gardens in Bonham.
The Clean and Green concept was designed to raise the awareness of what is currently being done to protect the environment and what each resident can do to protect North Texas from illegal dumping and impending urban sprawl.
Fannin County is fortunate to have BEES (Beautification, Education and Enforcement Strategies), one of only a handful of formal, full-time committees in Texas working to eliminate the blight of illegal dumping and to educate the community about the proper way to dispose of everything from litter to large household appliances. BEES is the only committee of its type in the three-county region of Fannin, Grayson and Cooke counties. TCOG Environmental Coordinator James Burnett was one of the first to address the audience and he pointed out that BEES has been nominated for the Texas Environmental Excellence Award.
"It's my job to bring state and federal funds back to the area," Burnett explained, adding, "I look forward to working with BEES."
Dewayne Strickland, Fannin County Commissioner for Precinct 3 and the first chair of BEES told residents how they could utilize dumpsters at the Precinct 3 and Precinct 4 barns to discard of anything from tires to furniture and refrigerators.
Landfills charge $4 per tire, but the price falls all the way down to 80˘ for a tire cut into quarters. Fannin County purchased a tire cutter, a move Strickland called "one of the best investments we've made." He estimates that the county has cut up and discarded 10,000 tires, which would mean the tire cutter has saved the county $32,000 already.
To express the statewide scope of the used tire disposal issue, Burnett said Texas had a population of approximately 29 million residents and data indicates one tire per resident will go into landfills across Texas each year.
Commissioner Strickland said he is working hard to accept whatever residents bring to the Precinct 3 barn to throw away, even if that means tracking down an agency or business that can accept materials that counties can't legally dispose of.
"I don't want to see it in our ditches," Strickland stated. "We have a good working relationship with James Burnett at TGOG, as well as Fannin County Sheriff Kenneth Moore and Chief Deputy Kirk McMurray."
Precinct 3 is now using two inmates from the Fannin County Jail on a daily basis and Precinct 4 has one inmate working regularly to help keep the county roads and waterways clean.
Strickland added that Fannin County would benefit from a full-time code enforcement officer, but he expressed appreciation for all the support and cooperation the county was receiving to address the problems caused by littering and illegal dumping.
Joan Snider told the group that Americans, on the average, generate four pounds of trash each day and Fannin County was facing an increase of illegal dumping incidences.
"We have to find a way to take care of it," Snider said. "If you see someone dumping illegally, don't confront them; just take down the license plate and call the sheriff's office."
"We do want to know," Fannin County Chief Deputy Kirk McMurray told the crowd.
McMurray explained that sometimes the best course of action was to identify people dumping illegally and then attempt to force the person or persons responsible to remove the trash. Other times it is necessary to identify project sites that will require a different course of action.
"Just call," Chief Deputy McMurray advised. "Please let us make that decision. We want to change the culture of this county to where it's not OK to just litter and dump trash illegally. The best deterrent is to get involved."
The correct number at the Fannin County Sheriff's Office to report illegal dumping is 903-583-2143.
Pam Burkhard, the Bonham Wal-Mart's team leader for the local recycling program, told how to take advantage of her employer's program to discard of plastic, aluminum and cardboard. The program is off to a great start.
"I have been amazed at all the stuff people have been bringing in," Burkhard remarked.
Wal-Mart has used its considerable leverage to convince manufacturers to downsize packaging and this concept saves everything from fuel used in deliveries to display space to, eventually, landfill space. And that is in addition to the raw products that originally went into larger packages.
Burkhard hopes the local recycling program can eventually include glass and unshredded paper. Wal-Mart has been responsible for sponsoring nature classrooms and Wal-Mart stores have also been on the leading edge of creating playgrounds made completely from recycled products.
"I want one of those here," Burkhard said emphatically.
Her goal is to eventually get large recycle bins at the Bonham store.
A Wal-Mart in McKinney even built a butterfly garden to give children a deeper appreciation for some of nature's most beautiful and fragile creatures.
Up next was Scott Lipsett, chair of Citizens Organizing for Resources and the Environment (CORE).
"We are a community of citizens uniting to improve our environment," Lispett said to define the role of CORE. "Urban sprawl is encroaching, taking our open spaces and public spaces. Rural communities across the nation are losing their identity, losing their resources and facing major challenges. Corporate rights are overriding individual rights. We need to raise our head and tell our city leaders what we want and there needs to be a bunch of us."
Lipsett spoke in favor of a restored Fannin County Courthouse and a revitalized downtown that residents would be proud to call the focal point in their community, a place to gather and discuss ideas and a place to celebrate this historic town's heritage.
"As a community, we need to act now to protect our interests," Lipsett said in closing. "We the people need to be put back in charge of our future."
The next 'Town Hall' meeting sponsored by the Fannin County Democratic Party is slated for January 17, 2008 and the topic will be Changing Land Use in Fannin County - Challenges and Opportunities.
