​Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Matching Grant Challenge Underway

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board members have accepted a matching grant challenge for $50,000 to establish an endowment fund with the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia. The group is already half way to meeting the goal of raising the funds, but requests your participation to make it all the way by the end of year.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is dedicated to creating a more vibrant community by focusing on programs and activities that end littering, improve recycling, or beautify communities. Christmas Tree and Electronics Recycling day, Adopt-a-Mile, #LiveLitterFree, and beautification grants for schools are just a few of the activities held this year.

Proceeds from the endowment fund will go towards events and educational campaigns, not staffing or office space, ensuring your donation will be used to fulfill the mission to create vibrant communities. Gifts to the endowment provide long term support to an organization led by volunteers who live and work locally.  

To contribute to the matching grant, make your check payable to: Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, and please mail to: Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful – Endowment 2016, P.O. BOX 3392, Dalton, GA 30719-3392.

You can request that an endowment fund letter be mailed to you by calling 706-278-5001, or filling out the request form online at www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful began in 1989 as the Dalton-Whitfield Clean and Beautiful Commission. About two years later it became an official Keep America Beautiful affiliate. The organization is now an independent non-profit with the same mission - to engage local residents in creating a more vibrant community for everyone.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. They're proud to join them in advancing education and collective action to ensure that beauty is our lasting legacy.     

Magic of Recycling at Local Schools

The garbage monster makes a surprise appearance in the trash can held by magician Greg Allen during a special performance of the Magic of Recycling show at Pleasant Grove Elementary School on Friday, November 11.

Students look on as a rolled-up newspaper magically transforms back into a tree during the Magic of Recycling show with magician Greg Allen. The program was hosted at Pleasant Grove Elementary and six other local schools during the week of November 7.

Students enjoy a magical learning experience

(Dalton, GA, November 21, 2016) – During the week of November 7 students from seven elementary schools hosted professional magician Greg Allen for a special performance of the “Magic of Recycling”. The educational magic show brings the concept of recycling and landfills to life during an interactive 40-minute program that includes magic tricks and audience participation.

The program was sponsored by Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful’s recycling committee and the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority’s recycling center in honor of America Recycles Day which is celebrated on November 15. During the month of November you can take the pledge to recycle and learn more about recycling online at www.americarecyclesday.org.

Antioch, Cedar Ridge, Brookwood, Pleasant Grove, Dawnville, Westwood, and Dug Gap Elementary school hosted either one or two performances for students from Kinder to 5th grade for a total of 12 shows. Local schools currently recycle mixed paper, cardboard, and select beverage containers with the Authority’s recycling collection program Target Recycling at School.

Recycling was shown as a way to use things again and again conserving natural resources, and saving landfill space in the process. During the program students saw a glass bottle transform into a new glass bottle, witnessed a telephone book be recycled into a new one, and more. Students enjoyed watching the show while learning about the transformative power of recycling.

Volunteers Remove Litter from Conasauga Watershed During Make a Difference Day

Girl Scout Troop 14603 was at Lakeshore Park in Dalton where volunteers helped to remove more than two-thousand pounds of garbage during the river cleanup.

Dalton State College students and more than 60 volunteers removed litter from Lakeshore Park on Saturday, October 22 during the annual Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup.

Volunteers at Mill Creek Tributary and Underwood Apartments in Dalton removed more than two-thousand pounds of litter and illegally dumped tires from the watershed during Make a Difference Day.

Pictured are only a few of the 35 volunteers that helped to remove litter at Holly Creek in Murray County during the 2016 Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup event.

(Dalton, GA, November 21, 2016) – Used tires, litter, a car bumper, and an illegally dumped mattress were part of the 10,672 pounds of garbage removed by volunteers during the 22st Annual Conasauga River Watershed Cleanup Event on Saturday, October 22. The annual event took place during United Way’s “Make a Difference Day”.

Two-hundred and ninety-nine volunteers spent the morning removing trash, debris, and invasive plants from eleven locations in Whitfield and Murray counties. The amount of time donated by volunteers during this year’s event, approximately 1,196 hours, is valued at $25,714. “Volunteers that come out and participate are of all ages and walks of life so it is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other people while doing a service for your community.” Said Amelia Atwell, an event participant.

Sites included in this year’s event were the Conasauga River at Carlton Petty Road Bridge, at Highway 2 bridge, and at Lower King’s Bridge and Norton Bridge. Also, Holly Creek in Murray County on the Chattahoochee National Forest, the Mill Creek tributary in the City of Dalton, Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill, and Lakeshore Park and Al Rollins Park in the City of Dalton.

Garbage found at each site was the result illegal dumping, irresponsible abandonment after using a site, or accidental loss of items from a vehicle with an unsecured load. Event participants encourage the public to pickup litter when they see it; properly secure loads on vehicles; take out what they take in at outdoor recreation areas; and properly dispose of tires and bulky items at an approved drop-off location.

“Be a good example for your children and others around you. If you see trash pick it up. If you see someone else throw out trash, ask them to pick it up.” Added Shell Underwood, longtime volunteer. Small efforts from everyone will result in a cleaner, healthier, and more beautiful environment. 

The following sponsors provided the funds needed to purchase t-shirts for volunteers, cleanup supplies, and hauled off the garbage: J+J Flooring Group, Shaw Industries, Dalton Utilities, Conasauga River Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, Georgia's Rivers Alive, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works.

Also, the following organizations helped coordinated the event: Conasauga River Alliance, Dalton State College, Dalton Utilities, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Limestone Valley RC & D, and Whitfield and Murray County Extension.

The Conasauga River, one of the six most biologically diverse freshwater river systems in the United States, supports twenty-four endangered species and a dozen other imperiled species, including the Southern Pigtoe mussel and the Conasauga logperch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.

The Conasauga Watershed Clean-up has long been a participant of Rivers Alive, one of the South’s largest volunteer efforts to beautify water resources. So far this year, 8,259 volunteers have participated in 126 clean-up events through out the state and have removed 335,949 pounds of garbage from 629 miles of Georgia waterways. For more information about efforts in other areas or the statewide campaign visit www.RiversAlive.org.

Closed Thursday, November 24 in Observance of Thanksgiving Day

Landfill, Convenience Centers To Be Closed Thursday, November 24

Facilities closed in observance of Thanksgiving Day

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority has announced the holiday hours of operation for it’s four facilities in Whitfield County. Locations include the Old Dixie Landfill & Convenience Center, McGaughey Chapel Convenience Center in Cohutta, Westside Convenience Center in Rocky Face, and the M.L. King Convenience Center in Dalton. 

All locations will be open from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm on Wednesday, November 23 including the McGaughey Chapel location that is normally closed on Wednesdays. All four sites will be closed on Thursday, November 24 in observance of Thanksgiving Day. All locations will reopen on Friday, November 24 from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm and resume normal hours.

For more information visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.

 

Thanksgiving Day Holiday Schedule:

• Wednesday, November 23, 2016 – All Locations OPEN -

EARLY CLOSING: 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM

(McGaughey Chapel Normally Closed)

• Thursday, November 24, 2016 – All Locations CLOSED – Thanksgiving Day

• Friday, November 25, 2016 – All Locations OPEN –

7:00 AM to 6:00 PM

(Resume Normal Schedule)

Verhoeff to head Solid Waste Authority

Published in The Daily Citizen on October 27, 2016: 

http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/news/local_news/verhoeff-to-head-solid-waste-authority/article_2c9d91c2-9775-575e-86bd-801d92e3f931.html

By Charles Oliver   charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com

Photo by Matt Hamilton, The Daily Citizen

Dirk Verhoeff, interim director of the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, was recently named the sole finalist for the post of director. The authority's board is expected to finalize his appointment in November. 

Dirk Verhoeff says becoming director of the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority has been "a professional and personal goal of mine" for several years.

Verhoeff has worked for the authority for nine years as environmental manager and project manager and has been interim director since shortly after director Norman Barashick announced his retirement after more than 20 years with the authority in May. And earlier this month, the authority's board named Verhoeff the sole finalist to be the authority's next director.

Authority employees are legally employees of the city of Dalton. Dalton Human Resources Director Greg Batts said Verhoeff's salary has not been finalized. He said ads for the job did not specify a salary but Barashick was earning about $90,000 a year.

"It was an easy choice," said Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Babb, who is on the authority board. "Dirk has regularly reported to us during our meetings, and he came highly recommended by Norman. We felt that we had a good employee who had been there for several years and had taken on increasing responsibility during that time, and we thought that we need to encourage and reward that sort of employee."

Verhoeff has a bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

"As environmental manager, I've been responsible for all the regulatory compliance and reporting that goes along with operating a solid waste facility," he said. "We have permits with the state and the feds. There's a lot of monitoring and reporting that goes along with that."

"And on the project management side, when I started, they had just started the landfill natural gas collection system, so I have managed that from day one," he said.

As director, he will be responsible for the budget and financial side as well.

The authority has an annual budget of about $5 million.

"We are an enterprise fund, so all of our revenues come from the customers who use our services," he said.

The authority has 36 full-time employees and three part-time employees. It operates the landfill on the south end of the county and convenience centers on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dalton, McGaughey Chapel Road in Cohutta and Miracle Drive in Westside. It also oversees and monitors the closed landfill in Westside.

Verhoeff says he doesn't foresee any major changes at the authority.

"We've got staff who have been here 20, 25 years. Everything runs very well, so I don't see any need for change, at least not right now," he said.

"I'm rooted in the community. My wife is a Dalton native. We have two children, and I'm really excited about this opportunity," he said.