CENTRE — Probate Judge Melyvn Salter, who also chairs the Cherokee County Commission, last week offered an apology to everyone who should not have received a letter from the Commission threatening a citation if they did not sign up for mandatory countywide garbage pickup.

Turns out, a lot of those folks had been following the law all along, Salter said.

“The commissioners, as well as the Commission office, have literally received hundreds of calls from people in the county concerning the letter they received from Waste Management,” Salter said. “It was never the intention of the County Commission for the letter to be sent to citizens who already abide by the mandatory garbage pickup resolution dated Nov. 23, 1992.”

Salter said Centre and Cedar Bluff residents, who have city-managed garbage services, should not have received the letter, either.

“We apologize to everyone who received the letter and shouldn't have,” he said. “It was unfortunate and unprofessional on the part of Waste Management, since they had the process available that would have allowed them to separate customers from non-customers.”

Salter said Waste Management approached the Commission during recent contract negotiations and asked for their help in persuading the estimated 3,500 households in unincorporated areas of the county who have not signed up for garbage pick-up to follow the law.

During those meetings, Salter said the Commission was led to believe that only eligible non-customers would receive the letter, which threatens anyone who fails to comply with the possibility of receiving a citation from the county.

“All we can do now is apologize for the way they handled this issue,” Salter said. “Still it does not take away from the fact that the law is the law.”

The push for countywide garbage pickup began with the County Board of Health over 20 years ago. In February 1990, the Board requested that the county hire a full-time solid waste officer. As a follow-up the Commission passed the November 1992 ordinance requiring residents to sign up for garbage pickup.

Salter said he hopes there will be better compliance with the ordinance over the next few years than there has been in the past.

“This is a political issue, like sewage, and politicians historically don't like to deal with those types of issues,” Salter said. “But we have the power and the responsibility to handle this because it deals with the health and safety of the people we represent.”

Salter said Waste Management officials told him a similar letter, circulated a few years back in Tuscaloosa County, increased sign-ups for garbage service by over 60 percent.

“I'd like to see a hundred percent here, but that's probably not possible,” Salter said. “But what I've been trying to impress on people is that they have a choice: either obey the law or not. And this is the law.”