Scott Sprouse Talks Trash

Hendersonville Alderman Scott Sprouse (Ward 2) took to Facebook to talk about ongoing problems with the city’s trash vendor, Waste Pro. Here’s what he had to say:

Based upon the calls and texts I’ve received, trash pickup this week is worse than last week, especially routes on the Walton Ferry peninsula yesterday and more so for the route serving the area south of Luna Lane. Waste Pro starting running a rolling schedule this week, meaning they start each day by finishing the previous day’s routes before starting the routes scheduled for that day. That means they were supposed to finish the Walton Ferry peninsula routes today before moving on to other areas of town. Please message me directly if you do not receive service by the end of today. My email address is ssprouse@hvilletn.org. You may call or text me at 615-824-9327.

In May 2019, I cast the lone vote against selecting Waste Pro and changing to once a week service. My vote was based upon my experience gained over the years and my concerns that unfortunately have since been proven justified.

Please be assured city staff and officials are fully engaged with this issue. Waste Pro is expected to uphold their contractual obligations. If they don’t, the city has the ability to terminate the contract, but that is a process that requires time and documentation. As a practical matter, it also requires the city to make arrangements to have a new provider ready to assume the work.

The bottomline is the situation is unacceptable. I understand the anger. I share the frustration. I will not accept COVID-19 as an excuse. The pandemic did not cause the problems with our trash service, it only more fully revealed problems already there.

I have read people suggest bringing trash to aldermen’s homes. If I were in your shoes, I would think the same thing, but instead of putting that messy burden on my neighbors, please let me come to you. I’m ready to borrow my father’s pickup and make runs to the dump myself. Just let me know via the email address or cell number provided above.

I am sorry for the trouble. You deserve better.

A "Bare Bones" Budget

The Hendersonville Standard has the story of the city's initial budget proposal for FY21:

Hendersonville leaders on Tuesday voted 12 to 1 on first reading for a “bare-bones” 2020-2021 fiscal year budget that does not require a property tax increase, spends more than $4 million than it takes in, and leaves a projected end fund balance of $118,000.

Still, at a time when revenue is uncertain due to the impact of COVID-19, most of the city’s aldermen expressed relief at not having to ask for a tax increase as well as not having to lay off any of the city’s more than 300 employees.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Recycling Pilot to End

Alderman Scott Sprouse explains why the recycling pilot program is coming to an end:

Last night, our board voted to end the pilot recycling program. Here’s why.

Nearly two years ago, the city initiated the pilot program in order to gauge public support of recycling. We needed data - percentage of homeowners participating, average volume collected per household, etc. - to help with planning and decisions regarding a potential community-wide program.

Last spring, the board was told all needed data was collected and funding for the pilot program would expire when the fiscal year ended on June 30. The board voted to fund the program for four additional months to help foster a transition to a community-wide solution.

I don’t have to remind you what happened in the meantime. The near last-minute vote to change who both collects our garbage and how often they collect it set off a series of short term decisions too reactive and often lacking details. (I voted against changing our trash services, but once the decision was made I accepted it, rolled up my sleeves, and started doing what I can to help other officials and staff implement it.)

Last night, the board was told the funding extension we passed in June for the pilot program will expire at the end of this month. We were asked to extend it for another six months with no timeline or next steps towards a community-wide solution. That would be just another reactive, short-term decision made without a proactive, long-term plan.

Voting to extend the pilot program may have been the politically expedient thing to do, but I could not in good conscience vote to continue a program that has completed it purpose. I could not ask every homeowner across the city to continue funding a service provided to only the chosen few. In some wards, the service is provided to only one subdivision. In Ward Two, the service is provided to only one block.

The next step toward recycling is not endlessly continuing a pilot program. The next step is developing a proposal, including a timeline and costs, and making a long-term decision to benefit the entire community.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

On Tires, Sprouse and Clary Agree

Mayor Jamie Clary and Alderman Scott Sprouse, two city leaders who are often odds, found a point of agreement recently: Rezoning related to a tire store.

The Hendersonville Standard reports that at a recent meeting, the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Alderman denied a proposed rezoning of land near Lowe's that would have allowed for a new Firestone tire store.

The story concludes with a note about the final vote -- 2 in favor of the rezoning, 11 opposed:

The request to rezone the property failed 2 to 11 with Mayor Jamie Clary and Ward 2 Alderman Scott Sprouse voting for the zoning change.

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Waste Pro, Week 1

Last week was Week 1 of Waste Pro, the new trash service in Hendersonville. By all accounts, it was somewhat rough.

This week will be the second week -- if you're on the Indian Lake Peninsula, your pickup is tomorrow (Monday, July 8th).

Here's more on Week 1 from Ward 2 Alderman Scott Sprouse:

Today was the first day of trash collection on the Walton Ferry Peninsula under the new service provider. You don't need me to tell you the change has not gone well. Many of you just have to look out your backdoor and see a full trashcan. Yesterday (first day on the Indian Lake Peninsula) wasn't very good either.

I voted against the change to once a week and the change to a new provider, but I was in the minority. Once the decision was made, however, my job became helping make it work. Quite frankly, we have a way to go.

I am reporting misses, escalating second misses, and working with staff. I am answering questions and striving to clear up misinformation, including when an employee of the new company told someone erroneously cans had to be visible from the street in order to be picked up. (This is not a requirement as it is impracticable if not impossible at many homes.) We were able to nip that one in the bud pretty quickly. This afternoon, I had a conversation with the new company's representative about setting expectations both ways. I had my most recent conversation with our acting Public Works Director this evening.

If you have a miss, the best way to let me know is via direct communication. I cannot guarantee I will see every comment posted in every discussion in social media. Please contact me via a Facebook private message, phone call (615-824-9327), text message (same number), or email (ssprouse@hvilletn.org). I will do all I can to help.

And, an end of week update with positive news:

Waste Pro has crews out today working specifically on misses from Monday through Wednesday. (Originally, they planned to take today off for the holiday.) So far this morning, two people for whom I have reported misses have told me their trash was picked up this morning. We still have a way to go, but I'm taking this as a good sign.

How did it go for you? Keep us posted: newshendersonville@gmail.com

More on Trash

The Hendersonville Standard has more on the move to once-a-week trash pickup:

Hendersonville leaders voted 10 to 1 on Tuesday to switch from a twice-a-week back-door trash collection service to a once-a-week back-door service.  The move is estimated to save the city around $2 million each year.

Recycling?

On Tuesday, Debbie Floyd, a member of an advisory committee appointed by board members to explore the issue of solid waste and recycling, said her committee gave a formal recommendation that the city implement curbside trash pick-up along with curbside recycling.

Floyd questioned why several aldermen seemed to be unaware of the recommendation.

The committee determined that if recycling is implemented citywide, the city’s tipping fee, or fee it pays to dump trash at a landfill, will decrease, according to Floyd.

Ward 2 Alderman Scott Sprouse said that he has heard from several residents who would like to keep the service the way it is.

“Of all the options [we’ve been given right now], not one of them includes recycling,” said Sprouse. “That’s not an option right now.”

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Thoughts on Trash

So, starting in July, Hendersonville will have a new trash company and everyone will have new trash cans. Service will go from twice a week to once a week and there is some discussion (though no final decision) about adding recycling to the mix. For now, the only guarantee is that citizens will get less service and may also enjoy a savings in the rate they pay for garbage pickup.

Alderman Scott Sprouse and former Alderman Matt Stamper offer some thoughts on this new development:

From Sprouse via his aldermanic Facebook page --

Last night, the board voted to change Hendersonville's twice a week, back door trash service to once a week, back door service. Also, we decided to award the contract to a new service provider. I cast the lone no vote.

No options on the table included recycling. I wish at least one did.

Once a week collection is not frequent enough, especially for people who live where HOA rules prohibit them from leaving trash cans outside. We'll realize this better once summer comes, once it's 95 degrees or higher day after day, once traveling on the day we're to put the trash out means we have to wait a second week for it to be collected.

Also, I have concerns about changing the service provider with such short notice. On July 1, our trash will start being collected by a company that today has no local facility, owns no equipment here, and employs no one to actually provide the service. They have thirty-two business days to acquire that facility; purchase the equipment; hire, screen and train the people who will be driving the trucks and hauling the trash; and establish and learn new routes. We were concerned about another provider having time to ramp-up new service when this was discussed two months ago. We were concerned when we first voted three weeks ago. I don't know what changed last night to make those concerns go away.

While I disagreed with the decision, I will do what I always do. I will respect the will of the board and work to implement the decision of the majority to the best of my ability.

In addition, the reduction of service means the cost of service will be reduced. I will stand by my pledge to vote to pass that reduced cost directly back to the homeowners who pay the garbage fee.

And, from Stamper:

Someone check my math. The old garbage fee (twice a week) was $4,690,907. You have to add tipping fee which comes from the general fund of 975,000 roughly. So $5,665,907. But the fee we pay is $293 on our property tax bill (see attached) for our trash fee. If it was all charged to the residents it would have been $354. Keep that number in mind.

The new contract is $2,553,107.88. If you add the tipping fee (which won't change) you are at $3,528,107.88. Now before we rejoice at a 45.573% decrease in the variable amount of this thing (37.73% overall decrease) and before you think those savings are going to be passed on to the residents keep one important thing in mind. Your service that you are paying for is being cut in half.

So not bad financially, a significant reduction in the cost for a 50% reduction in service. This ignores whether you like or don't like only getting your trash picked up once a week. But the part I'm not excited about (besides going to once a week) is that the push from some of our leaders is not to pass all of this savings on to the residents. Simple math would say the new garbage fee should be at the absolute most $220.37, let's round up since they use whole dollars and just have everyone chip in an extra 63 cents and you are $221. Keep an eye on the first reading of the budget and see if they move it to $221 or less. They really should in my opinion. If you go a dime over $221 you are subsidizing and paying for city services enjoyed by businesses and residents and making only the residents pay for them (not to mention a person with a home value of $150,000 pays the same fee as an $800,000 home). The trash fee is inherently regressive so abusing it would devastating to those with lower economic demographics.

Now this assumes a big change moving the tipping fee from the overall general fund and putting it on the homeowners. But assuming they do that the trash fee should not exceed $221. Any argument they give you that it should be higher than that is absolutely untrue and dishonest. It's a pass through and $221 would make it a straight pass through. If they decided to continue to pay for the tipping fees from the general fund the fee should be $159.47. Were I still on the board I would urge my colleagues to meet somewhere in the middle, perhaps $200. Notice the stormwater fee. In the past year you are looking at them pushing something everyone paid for onto the backs of residents through the trash fee, they've added a $72 stormwater fee to every resident and the reappraisals mean on the property tax itself (which is outside of these two fees) some folks are going to pay double what they paid last year.

Enough is enough on our residents. It's a triple whammy and it appears no one but me is standing up and saying something about it using simple math and facts. There is no denying the accuracy of anything I've said here. In the past two days I've been called about everything but a child of God for pointing out what is happening to us as a city. I'm not being dishonest, I've laid out plainly for all to see.

Stay tuned for what's next!

For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

Budget Games

Alderman Scott Sprouse reports on the budget situation as the Board of Mayor and Aldermen begin the budgeting process through workshops. Here's what he posted on his Aldermanic Facebook page:

We had our first budget workshop Tuesday night. Traditionally, this is when aldermen and the public get first look at a mayor’s proposed budget. This year, this mayor did not prepare a full budget. He gave us one page summaries for each department. He did not provide the usual details. Some sections were left out completely. The mayor provided absolutely no revenue estimates. We don’t know what tax rate he is proposing. We don’t know what garbage fee he is proposing. (But we do know he is yet again wanting to jack it up unfairly on the backs of homeowners.) We don’t know how much would be left in the general fund. This situation is completely unacceptable.


For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews

DeSopo Attacks Local Elected Officials, Hides from Questions

Hendersonville resident Donna DeSopo, a frequent critic of city officials in Hendersonville, has come under fire for her aggressive, personal attacks on two local elected officials.

The Hendersonville Standard carried a story this week on DeSopo's tactics and her refusal to return calls for comment.

In one incident, DeSopo took to an area news blog and then Facebook to attack Goodlettsville City Commissioner Zach Young, accusing him of being jobless, living in his parents' basement, and relying on them for health care and food.

DeSopo has not responded to the fact that Young is employed full-time at a local property management company and is also a full-time college student.  Young notes that he lives at with his mother to care for her as she has a terminal illness. 

No word from DeSopo in terms of an apology for her outlandish attack. 

Young says he's fine with political disagreements, but doesn't understand why DeSopo made it personal. Worse, she simply lied. Every one of her accusations about Young's personal life are false.

In another incident cited by the Standard, DeSopo refers to Hendersonville Alderman Scott Sprouse as a piece of excrement who should be thrown out. 

The paper goes on to editorialize that DeSopo's conduct has no place in a civil discussion regarding political disagreements. 

Sprouse says DeSopo's words don't concern him, but he'd like for her to produce tangible evidence to support her claims.

It's not clear whether or when she plans to apologize for insulting Sprouse or lying about Young's family life. 

Perhaps DeSopo will continue her approach of boldly attacking with lies and vile language, then hiding when confronted.  Perhaps being exposed for such tactics will cause her to re-think her approach. Time will tell.

New Rules for Public Comment at Board of Aldermen Meetings

Woodcock, Sprouse, Foster and former Mayor Ausbrooks ... a drama without end, apparently.

It's right here.

Jerry Stone vs. Logic and Common Sense

Well, Jerry Stone is at it again.  Taking on common sense in a desperate attempt to hold on to the County Commission seat he holds so dear. But, this time, it's Hendersonville Alderman Scott Sprouse taking Stone on -- and not letting him get away with bizarre and just plain dumb arguments.

It's all about the controversy over convenience voting in Sumner County.

Now, here's Sprouse calling out Stone in a strong way:

BLOCK THE VOTE UPDATE: Commissioner Stone Strikes Back
Last week Sumner County Commissioner Jerry Stone fought the opportunity to promote democracy and save taxpayers more than $125,000 every election year. He made his reason very clear: his personal need for last minute politicking outweighs his support of the public good.
Commissioner Stone must be feeling the heat for being selfish enough to think such a thing but honest enough to say it. Now he is backpedaling with a bizarre explanation.
Stone wrote: "The proposal furthers the goal of those who favor moving control from local elected officials to regional centers controlled by a...ppointed bureaucrats. I will always oppose proposals to move toward centralized decision making and away from local elected officials."

Stone did a great job of using Tea Party buzzwords, but the comment is just plain dumb. Nothing in the proposal would change who manages Sumner County elections. The proposed voting centers would be managed by the same local election officials who manage the current polling places.
What's really sad is Commissioner Stone's desperate swings at those who support the proposal. When he reads that many Strong Schools founders and members support the proposal, he dismisses us as a "special interest group". (Duh! Education is a durn good special interest.) When he reads a local elected official supports the proposal, Commissioner Stone dismisses the opinion because the official "was funded by the biggest Obama bundler in the state." (Is he talking about me because our highly respected neighbor Charles Bone gave my non-partisan reelection campaign $200 or is he talking about Baker Ring or Zach Young? Either way, is that the best shot he can take?)
Maybe Commissioner Stone opposes "moving control from local elected officials" because he is afraid voters would move control from local elected officials like him.

Stone's comments reflect a degree of paranoia not normally seen in local elected officials.