“I have campers coming and it is just a poor look,” Bowers said.
“I’m not trying to upset anybody or anything. I’m just asking for help,” Bowers said.
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Increased need at a local campground has caused the current dumpsters to be inadequate to meet the demands of campers, according to Five River Campground Owner John Bowers. Bowers voiced his concerns over excess trash accumulating on and around the dumpsters at his main gate to the City of Parsons Council during their meeting June 4th. “I would like to address a dumpster situation,” Bowers said. “I have two, supposedly the biggest dumpsters you guys have and its not sufficient,” Bowers said.
Bowers said he has requested additional dumpsters in the past. According to Bowers, the City will bring in six additional dumpsters for the Pickin’ in Parsons Festival and empty them every day, but the campground now hosts several events a year. “It took me about four years to get two dumpsters,” Bowers said. “Everybody that I have asked previously has told me that there is no more dumpsters. We can’t get you any dumpsters.”
Currently, the campground has two, four-yard dumpsters on site, according to Bowers. Bowers said that during busy weekends, the dumpsters are inadequate for his needs and often overflows. Bowers showed a photo of the overflow to the Council from his phone. “That’s right there at my gate,” Bowers said. “That is basically a trash truck full of trash.”
Bowers said the worst of the buildup of trash occurs during holiday weekends when pick up is delayed due to the holiday. Bowers said he didn’t want work crews to have to give up their holiday to address the issue, but would like to see the size of the dumpsters increased to accommodate the increase in the amount of trash. “I would really like to see if we could increase the size of these dumpsters,” Bowers said. “I’m not asking for them for free, of course.”
According to Bowers, on holiday weekends, pickup of trash can be delayed two or three days. “Every holiday like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, during the Pow Wow now, which is becoming a bigger event, I have to, usually the holiday is on Monday, so its two or three days that it sits at my gate. I have campers coming and it is just a poor look. So, you can understand my concern. I’m not trying to upset anybody or anything. I’m just asking for help.”
Bowers said that at least half of the trash is from items purchased locally. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that at least 50% of the product seen there was purchased locally,” Bowers said.
The Campground has multiple service accounts with the City of Parsons, according to Bowers, including seven water services. “I pay significant amounts for trash, water, sewage,” Bowers said. “I have seven different water services through the city.”
The Council discussed that funding was allocated for the purchase of new dumpsters. Council Members Melissa Jones asked Council Member David Greenlief about what maximum capacity dumpsters the city trucks were capable of lifting. Greenlief said he believed the trucks were able to accommodate up to 11 yard dumpsters. “We can handle any size of dumpster we have available to us right now,” Greenlief said.
Bowers provided his ideas for a solution to the Council. “I have a couple of different solutions, if we could get a couple of bigger dumpster, I’d be glad to get them, pay for them, whatever,” Bowers said. “Or if they can spot a couple of extra dumpsters before the holiday and then take them back after.”
Currently, the Campground has four yard dumpsters on site that are emptied twice a week. Jones suggested keeping the two existing dumpsters and adding a larger dumpster at the site. Bowers said that would help, depending on the cost increase to him. Bowers said he thought two larger capacity dumpsters at the site, instead of bringing in a third dumpster, would be most cost efficient. “Two bigger dumpsters would probably be cheaper then three,” Bowers said.
City Recorder said he felt two eight yard dumpsters at the site would likely be the best solution. Bowers agreed that two eight yard would help. “Something that would give me a little more capacity because it doesn’t take long to fill up the two fours,” Bowers said.
City Treasurer Quinn Buckley said he would look into the cost of two eight yard dumpsters for the site. Jones also requested that Buckley price four yard dumpsters to replace older dumpsters in town that have fallen into disrepair.
