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Rainy day here in Bella Vista today (glad to see the rain!). So thought I would talk a little trash...
It is not an easy task to haul off your own garbage, construction material or yard waste in Benton County. For starters, Benton Country Solid Waste District seems to change the rules just about every year regarding what you can bring to a drop off center and what you cannot (they changed the rules again as of Sep 8th), and you have to pay (by weight for most items). They do allow for some large and bulky items to be dropped for free, but very specific on what they will accept.
When I lived in Georgia, we had drop off centers (dumpsters), organized by county. As long as you were a resident of that county, you could dump whatever you wanted (sorted by metal, cardboard, large items, or just household trash).
It's been a learning experience for me here in Benton county. We sold a house last year, had to clean it out, and remodeling 2 others, so I have had the need to haul off a lot of debris lately.
So for anyone relocating to Benton County, and you want or have a need to haul away some trash or other debris, I have outlined your options below (based on my experiences. I have also included a link at bottom.
For general household trash, your best option is curb side pickup, from Republic or another service (here in Bella Vista we have Republic. They pick up once per week, and you can also call and schedule one large item pickup. Pretty straight forward. Otherwise, you do not really have any other option to dispose of general household trash, unless you weigh and pay. If hauling yourself, below are your only options...
- Bella Vista (Republic Service Transfer Station): Fee is $110 per ton, with a one ton minimum, pro-rated after the first ton (very expensive!). You can dump pretty much everything here, household trash, construction material, etc. (no haz-waste, tires or yard waste). You have to wear a hard hat and vest, but they supply them to you. The lady who works the window is not very nice and seems to hate life, so be prepared for that.
- Bethel Heights collection location: Household garbage and furniture only. Fee is $2.56 per bag of trash, or 13.40 per cubic yard. I have never been to this location.
- Siloam Springs transfer station: Fee is $45.21 per ton. They take pretty much everything here (no tires, yard waste or Haz-waste), I've taken construction material here a few times. The lady in the office is super nice and a pleasure to deal with. The guys working the center are great and will sometimes help you unload (but you are responsible to unload your own stuff, as with all the other places).
- Tontitown Land Field: Fee is $54 up to 1-ton, then pro-rated after that. Great folks here, very friendly. They will take it all here (except tires or haz-waste). Keep in mind this is a working land field, it's dirty and sometimes muddy. If you only have a small load, they have dumpsters they will guide you to.
In addition to the above, Benton County maintains (3) "convenience centers" available for Benton County residents. However you cannot dispose of any "household trash" at these locations. You can dump limited quantities of haz-waste, tires, appliances and other bulky items. You cannot dump yard waste or construction materials of any kind.
Thanks for that info and good that you finally got some rain. We got home to Gulf Coast Alabama today and we got over 25" of rain last week from Hurricane Sally.
For tires, appliances, old mattress, we just have it taken care of by the business where we get the new stuff.
Our trash bill is $ 40 a month. Here is what we receive:
1 large trash container, pickup every Friday
1 large recycle bin, pickup every second Friday
3 large yard waste bins, pickup every first and third Friday - or twice a month, that is the one we use the most with all the trees we have.
Used motor oil goes back to Autozone, free recycling. We don't pay sewage fees with the septic (until it needs service).
Currently our water bill is $ 44 a month, not metered after the fire. Before the fire the highest was $ 95 a month in the summer with heavy irrigation. Less in the winter months.
Natural gas and electric the highest bill was $ 320 in January. On average it is $ 220-260 per month, gas and electric. Our house isn't big, 1,776 sq.feet, single story.
I would love to see some numbers from the Bella Vista area, just to know what to expect once we get there, if ever. If not for the damn virus I'd be fishing on Loch Lomond right now. Keep dreaming, mgforshort.
Something else: compared to March, our rainy season, the water level in our Paradise lake dropped about 18 feet from its highest level. How are things like that in Arkansas?
Last edited by mgforshort; 09-22-2020 at 04:55 PM..
Fascinating. I once lived in a place with 4-5 different trash companies to choose from. It just seemed kind of confusing and the competition didn't really keep the rates lower or improve service. It's one thing I don't mind the city taking care of.
Where we live (not in Arkansas):
$150 every three months for water, sewer, trash, recycling. One big trash container, one equally large recycling container. Tree limbs can be left on the curb. Leaves can be raked onto the street in piles to be sucked up a few times during the fall. They have occasional big-item days I think but I usually try to fix stuff or give it away first.
Thanks for that info and good that you finally got some rain. We got home to Gulf Coast Alabama today and we got over 25" of rain last week from Hurricane Sally.
For tires, appliances, old mattress, we just have it taken care of by the business where we get the new stuff.
Our trash bill is $ 40 a month. Here is what we receive:
1 large trash container, pickup every Friday
1 large recycle bin, pickup every second Friday
3 large yard waste bins, pickup every first and third Friday - or twice a month, that is the one we use the most with all the trees we have.
Used motor oil goes back to Autozone, free recycling. We don't pay sewage fees with the septic (until it needs service).
Currently our water bill is $ 44 a month, not metered after the fire. Before the fire the highest was $ 95 a month in the summer with heavy irrigation. Less in the winter months.
Natural gas and electric the highest bill was $ 320 in January. On average it is $ 220-260 per month, gas and electric. Our house isn't big, 1,776 sq.feet, single story.
I would love to see some numbers from the Bella Vista area, just to know what to expect once we get there, if ever. If not for the damn virus I'd be fishing on Loch Lomond right now. Keep dreaming, mgforshort.
Something else: compared to March, our rainy season, the water level in our Paradise lake dropped about 18 feet from its highest level. How are things like that in Arkansas?
Our trash bill is around $40 quarterly. For that we get a 90 gallon container picked up once per week. We put pretty much what ever we want to in it. And we can get call for one large item pick-up once per week if needed (but it is a hassle, have to call a number, go through options, finally get an operator, they don't make it easy). We do not have recycling pickup, but have a local recycling center if one chooses to use.
Used motor oil can be disposed of at one of the convenience centers, or go back to local auto parts store, as you stated. Back in North GA, I had a shop and heated it with an oil fired furnace, thus kept all my used oil for fuel.
Our electric bill averages $126 per month, but it's a small home, and we run a pellet stove in the winter time. The house we are remodeling is about 1800 sq-ft and the average electric bill from the previous owners was around $155 per month. We do not have natural gas here, but many people use propane, not sure what the average cost is for that.
Our water bill is about $25 per month (we are on septic, so no sewage fees). For those here on sewer, add maybe another $25 to the water bill (the sewer system, like the water, is controlled by the POA, not the city).
We pay around $50 per month for ATT high speed internet, it has been very reliable. We do not have cable. We choose to stream our content, and have Youtube TV to get local and national channels.
Cost of living here is really cheap compared to you guys out there!
Our lakes are not down right now, from what I have noticed. They all have spill over Dams, so as long as the streams keep running, the lakes will be fine. However the streams are getting pretty low. Which is the opposite of what we've had for the last couple of years (flooding). I'm sure we are getting some algae build up in the lakes due to the small stream flows.
We are coming into Fall right now, and the temps are high 50's at night and 70 or low 80's in the day time. Humidity is down and we feel that wonderful crisp in the air. The leaves are just starting to turn. I love the Fall. Life is good. Hope you are well out there, and get to BV soon.
I'm well aware that California is more expensive than anywhere else, heck, our gasoline is at least a dollar more per gallon, I just paid $ 3.06 a gallon today in Chico for the cheapest regular, self service. But then I read your posts, and the post from sub, and it sinks in just HOW MUCH MORE expensive we are.
With all the taxes and fees paid we should be taken care of - unfortunately, there are not enough fire fighters and our electric power isn't reliable.
Off topic, sorry, there is an old hotel in Sacramento getting a renovation to make it suitable for housing the homeless. Big government project. The cost is $ 445 K (445,000) to renovate one apartment, about 250 sq.feet in size, for the homeless. That is per apartment. Renovation, not build from the ground up. A 2-bedroom house cost about the same in Sacramento currently.
The last paragraph was written to enlighten the unbelievers who wonder why we pay so much for everything here in California.
Last edited by mgforshort; 09-22-2020 at 08:39 PM..
Rainy day here in Bella Vista today (glad to see the rain!). So thought I would talk a little trash...
It is not an easy task to haul off your own garbage, construction material or yard waste in Benton County. For starters, Benton Country Solid Waste District seems to change the rules just about every year regarding what you can bring to a drop off center and what you cannot (they changed the rules again as of Sep 8th), and you have to pay (by weight for most items). They do allow for some large and bulky items to be dropped for free, but very specific on what they will accept.
When I lived in Georgia, we had drop off centers (dumpsters), organized by county. As long as you were a resident of that county, you could dump whatever you wanted (sorted by metal, cardboard, large items, or just household trash).
It's been a learning experience for me here in Benton county. We sold a house last year, had to clean it out, and remodeling 2 others, so I have had the need to haul off a lot of debris lately.
So for anyone relocating to Benton County, and you want or have a need to haul away some trash or other debris, I have outlined your options below (based on my experiences. I have also included a link at bottom.
For general household trash, your best option is curb side pickup, from Republic or another service (here in Bella Vista we have Republic. They pick up once per week, and you can also call and schedule one large item pickup. Pretty straight forward. Otherwise, you do not really have any other option to dispose of general household trash, unless you weigh and pay. If hauling yourself, below are your only options...
- Bella Vista (Republic Service Transfer Station): Fee is $110 per ton, with a one ton minimum, pro-rated after the first ton (very expensive!). You can dump pretty much everything here, household trash, construction material, etc. (no haz-waste, tires or yard waste). You have to wear a hard hat and vest, but they supply them to you. The lady who works the window is not very nice and seems to hate life, so be prepared for that.
- Bethel Heights collection location: Household garbage and furniture only. Fee is $2.56 per bag of trash, or 13.40 per cubic yard. I have never been to this location.
- Siloam Springs transfer station: Fee is $45.21 per ton. They take pretty much everything here (no tires, yard waste or Haz-waste), I've taken construction material here a few times. The lady in the office is super nice and a pleasure to deal with. The guys working the center are great and will sometimes help you unload (but you are responsible to unload your own stuff, as with all the other places).
- Tontitown Land Field: Fee is $54 up to 1-ton, then pro-rated after that. Great folks here, very friendly. They will take it all here (except tires or haz-waste). Keep in mind this is a working land field, it's dirty and sometimes muddy. If you only have a small load, they have dumpsters they will guide you to.
In addition to the above, Benton County maintains (3) "convenience centers" available for Benton County residents. However you cannot dispose of any "household trash" at these locations. You can dump limited quantities of haz-waste, tires, appliances and other bulky items. You cannot dump yard waste or construction materials of any kind.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed talking trash with me. The rain has stopped for now and I think I'm gonna get out of the house for a while.
We split our trash between curb pick up and recycling. The only problem with curb side is what happened o us last year. We had a very small amount of leaves we had dumped into our trash container and I mean a small amount and low and behold they left us a message letting us know, not to put any garden clippings of any kind in our trash again. Wow, was all we could say.
We do like recycling but the rules on what they do and do not want sometimes change with no notice.
I'm well aware that California is more expensive than anywhere else, heck, our gasoline is at least a dollar more per gallon, I just paid $ 3.06 a gallon today in Chico for the cheapest regular, self service. But then I read your posts, and the post from sub, and it sinks in just HOW MUCH MORE expensive we are.
With all the taxes and fees paid we should be taken care of - unfortunately, there are not enough fire fighters and our electric power isn't reliable.
Off topic, sorry, there is an old hotel in Sacramento getting a renovation to make it suitable for housing the homeless. Big government project. The cost is $ 445 K (445,000) to renovate one apartment, about 250 sq.feet in size, for the homeless. That is per apartment. Renovation, not build from the ground up. A 2-bedroom house cost about the same in Sacramento currently.
The last paragraph was written to enlighten the unbelievers who wonder why we pay so much for everything here in California.
We are paying, for gas, right now about just under $2 a gallon.
Our heating/air runs in the neighborhood of $150 a month: we are on the budget plan so it rarely changes more than a few $$s regardless of the time of year. We have about 1700 sq ft plus a very large glassed in sun room with its own heating and a/c.
We had a variety of trash companies to choose from where I used to live, and I don't think it improved the service. I just meant a lot of noisy trash trucks going up and down the street early in the morning.
But trash service here in Indianapolis is freakin' awesome. The city has a few private companies that do the work. You get a big bin, heavy trash day once a month where you can put out two large items (like a mattress set), and ToxDrop at a few locations around the city every month. You can take more trash to the city landfills for a small fee.
They also pick up leaves in the fall (you have to put them in separate bags) and the county composts them. Residents can get the compost for free when it's done.
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