Rural trash disposal, then and now

stokes-dump.jpg

The Winston-Salem Journal has a piece this morning on two illegal dumps being discovered and shut down in Stokes County.

Only in the last 35 to 40 years have the rural counties in Piedmont North Carolina cracked down on local dumping and assumed responsibility for trash disposal. Until that time, if you looked behind any rural home, you’d find a gully where bottles, cans, broken bicycles and worn-out couches were tossed. Paper and cardboard usually went into a burn barrel.

House-to-house pickup would be way too expensive for these rural areas, so rural residents these days are expected to bag their trash and take it to local drop-off sites around the county. Recyclable items also are collected.

I only wish that rural counties were as unforgiving of erosion and muddy runoff as they now are of illegal trash disposal. A citizens group to keep an eye on the Yadkin River is working on reviving itself. The Dan could use some help, too. More on muddy rivers another day…

Rural Internet access

The United States is not very wired. In 2005, the U.S. ranked 12th in the world in the prevalence of Internet access. Japan and much of Europe is ahead of us:


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_access_worldwide

Internet access is particularly a problem in rural areas of the U.S. In Stokes County, DSL is available only in the more populated corner of the county near King. As far as I can tell from online research, there are two other telephone company central offices in the county, and the two remote central offices don’t even support DSL.

Cable? I’m too far out for that too. My neighbors in rural Stokes have dial-up access, if they have Internet access at all.

I’m a wired person. Dial-up won’t do.

Satellite for Internet access is a possibility, but I’d rather not go that route. It’s not that much more expensive that other types of broadband, but the bandwidth isn’t great, and there’s a delay while the signals make the 46,000-mile round trip up to the satellite and back.

I try to keep up with the Stokes County commissioners by reading the minutes of the commissioner meetings online:

www.co.stokes.nc.us/

From the minutes of the meeting on December 5, 2006, I learned that the commissioners had approved Alltel’s request for a 199-foot cell phone tower a couple of miles east of Danbury. The tower site is on the south side of Mission Road about four-tenths of a mile from the intersection of Pitzer Road.

In June 2007 I called the owner of the property, who was identified in the minutes, and asked him if he knew if the tower is working yet. He said that the tower is up, the power has been brought in, etc., and that he expects the tower will be working before long.

It’s very difficult to get information out of Alltel, but my hope is that this cell phone tower will support broadband EVDO service over the cellular network. Alltel calls this service “Axcess Broadband/MobileLink,” and prices start at $60 a month.

As soon as I’m on the ground in Stokes County, I’ll be following broadband developments very closely.

Periodic updates

I’ll have periodic updates as I continue to carry out my three year plan. As of July 2007, this has been done:

— Land search commenced, summer 2004

— Made offer on land, January 2005

— Closed on land, March 2005

— Bought blueprints for house, November 2005

— Bought trailer, October 2005

— Drilled well, May 2006

Here is the timeline for the remaining work:

— February 2008: rough-clear driveway and clear access to septic area. Install septic tank. Bring in temporary power. Build wellhouse. Install pump in well.

— March 2008: Bring trailer out to the land and hook it up to water and septic. Clear garden area and build garden fence for deer protection. Improve driveway and culvert.

— Spring of 2008: Negotiate contracts for foundation, framing, roofing, and exterior. Begin construction May or June of 2008.