The proposed solid waste landfill in Uniontown "will be good for Perry County and for the whole Black Belt," said county commissioner Albert Turner Jr. "We’re creating jobs."

A public hearing will be held concerning the county’s solid waste plan at 7 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2004, at R.C. Hatch High School in Uniontown. The commission has a "called meeting" for 9 a.m. on Jan. 6 to likely approve the solid waste plan, which includes the construction of the landfill four miles southeast of Uniontown on County Road 1.

The landfill isn’t the commission’s only solution for county jobs. Turner said the county will announce in March that another industry will locate in Perry County. The landfill and the unnamed industry will provide in total over 400 jobs.

In regard to the landfill, the commission plans to display photos of various illegal dumping sites in the county at the public hearing as another reason the landfill is needed.

Turner has been very vocal in recent commission meetings on the effect the September vote against Governor Bob Riley’s tax plan is now having on state and county services. "People have said they don’t want anymore taxes," he said, "but they want more services. And they want better services.

People were fighting against the tax plan, however, you wind up fighting yourself.

Turner said some citizens won’t pay attention to the state budget crisis until services are completely eliminated. "Everybody’s touched by mental health…the prison system…by healthcare. The more you keep cutting those type things they’re going to realize that this is hurting."

As a public servant, he can’t wait that long. You can cut non-essential services, but then you have to cut personnel. Education must come first.