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Public commenter Todd Bills alleges Bradley County landfill is mismanaged and says state comptroller has been notified
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Summary
At a Bradley County Commission meeting, public commenter Todd Bills alleged county landfill mismanagement, said a private operator is treating the site as a profit center, and told commissioners he has provided documents to the state comptroller and media. Commissioners did not take action during the meeting.
Todd Bills, a member of the public who identified himself during the commission’s public-comment period, told the Bradley County Commission that the county landfill is being run “incorrectly” and accused a private operator of treating the site as a profit center.
"We're not operating our landfill correctly," Bills said, adding that the operator collects what he called the proceeds and classifies them as donations to a so-called “community involvement committee.” He said county records and open-records requests from Bradley and Polk counties underpin his claims and that he had submitted the materials to the state comptroller’s office. "They're gonna come. The cavalry is on its way," Bills said, referring to the comptroller.
Bills urged the commission to review the documents and to ensure that landfill revenue is used only for permitted solid-waste and recycling purposes. He said the landfill was intended for Bradley County residents and businesses, accused the arrangement of allowing nonlocal disposal at low prices, and said the current situation had persisted for decades. "For 40 years, it's been corrupt," he said.
The complaint named a nationwide company by trade name and argued the county’s arrangements allowed the company to operate the site as a profit center rather than as a contractor paid by the ton, as Bills described the law requires. He asked commissioners to read materials he presented at a prior meeting and to ask him questions; when his five minutes expired, he again invited commissioners to contact him for further information.
Commissioners did not discuss or respond with formal questions during the meeting. The chair thanked Bills for his remarks and moved on to announcements and the adjournment. The commission did not take any formal action or announce an investigation during the session.
Why it matters: The landfill serves county residents and businesses, and Bills’ allegation—if substantiated—would raise questions about compliance with state restrictions on the use of landfill- or solid-waste-related funds and about the county’s contracting and oversight practices. Bills said he had provided documents to the state comptroller’s office; the scope and status of any official review were not established during the meeting.
Bills’ remarks came during the audience-communications portion of the commission’s meeting, when speakers were allotted up to five minutes to address the commission as a whole. The chair closed public comment after Bills and announced the commission’s next voting session on May 4 at 7 p.m. at the courthouse.
No formal motions, votes, or staff directions relating to the landfill were recorded in the meeting transcript. The commission minutes or subsequent agendas would be the appropriate place to record any follow-up the commission chooses to take.
