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The Dare County Public Works Department has announced a series of changes to its current trash collection and recycling services due to issues related to fully staffing the county’s sanitation department.

The changes go into effect on Monday, May 3, 2021.

Due to a shortage of qualified drivers with a CDL license who are available to be hired, as well as the temporary absence of multiple Dare County Public Works Department employees who are currently on medical leave due to various conditions and circumstances, the county is altering its operations and priorities for several months in order to continue to provide the required sanitation services to Dare County residents and visitors.

The primary objective of the county’s plan is to consolidate its current employees in order to prioritize solid waste pickup and disposal. The services prioritized in Dare County’s current plan, in this order, are residential and commercial trash collection, servicing the Buxton Transfer Station, having the ability to haul recyclable materials to market and keeping recycling services available at three locations within Dare County.

In order to accomplish this plan and provide the services prioritized above, the county plans to do the following:

– Continue recycling at Public Works in Manteo, the Buxton Transfer Station and the Kitty Hawk/Dare County Recycling Center.

– Remove the recycling bins in Wanchese, Stumpy Point and Manns Harbor and close the recycling center in Rodanthe.

– Discontinue hauling yard debris, C&D material and mattresses/trash from the Kitty Hawk recycle station.

– Reassign the drivers who are providing the discontinued services above to trash collection and contract with an outside vendor to provide trash collection to fill any gaps in services.

This plan will be implemented by Dare County beginning May 3. The county states that doing so will allow the Public Works Department to continue to collect trash on schedule for the next several months while staff members recover and return to work and while the county continues its efforts to hire new qualified drivers who have a valid CDL license.

The Dare County Public Works Department anticipates that its staff members will be fully recovered and able to return to their positions in mid to late June, which will then allow the department to continue with its normal trash collection and recycling service operations.

For more information, visit www.DareNC.com or contact Dare County Public Works director Shanna Fullmer at 252-475-5844 or Shanna@DareNC.com.

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