By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Town officials are looking for a few — maybe a lot — of people with good ideas about recycling.

The town will conduct a public hearing today at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 143 N. Salisbury Ave.

This will be a different sort of public hearing. Town Manager Dan Peters said the town doesn't have any proposal, plan or preconceived notion about how to offer some type of cost-effective recycling program.

Since the cancellation in July of curbside recycling, a lot of people have contacted the town wanting to start a new program.

Peters said it's mostly the hard-core recycling proponents — about 5 percent of town residents — who are pushing hard for some type of program.

And they've heard from many residents who have moved to Granite Quarry from other areas that have recycling programs.

Peters said he hopes those people will attend Monday's meeting and bring ideas and suggestions.

The town halted the recycling program because less than 12 percent of Granite Quarry's 1,100 residents participated, and it cost taxpayers $32,000 a year.

Peters said it didn't make sense for everybody to pay the extra cost with so few using the service.

The Board of Aldermen wants to establish a task force to find the most cost-effective way to recycle and to encourage more people to participate.

Peters said town leaders are looking at a wide array of possibilities, including using the trailer provided by the Rowan County Recycling Program and pulling it around town — possibly stopping only at the homes of people who register to recycle.

Some ardent recyclers have used the Dunn's Mountain center operated by the county, but it's open only three days a week.

"If you've got some ideas, come to the meeting," Peters said.

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