SIDES TOLD TO END JAMES ISLAND TRASH FEUD

Disagreement over who gets biggest slice of the trash pie proves expensive

BY JASON HARDIN
Of The Post and Courier Staff
    
     The latest skirmish in the long-running feud between the city of Charleston and the James Island Public Service District comes down to a tussle over an unlikely prize: the right to pick up the island's trash.
     A judge last week told the two sides to sit down and work out a plan for providing sanitation service to parts of the suburban island.
     At issue are properties annexed by the city since May 2000 - and perhaps even before then.
     Both the city and the PSD say they want to keep the trash.
     "We are ready, willing and able to contract with the city to pick up every piece of garbage on James Island," said Trent Kernodle, attorney for the PSD.
     "We would love to provide the service," said Charleston City Attorney Bill Regan. "We think we would provide a higher level of service."
     It's not at all clear common ground can be found. Regan said the PSD has pushed for more territory than the city is willing to cede.
     Kernodle said the city's current service is inefficient because some properties in the city are somewhat isolated, meaning trucks have a longer drive for less trash.
     In the short run, Circuit Judge Deadra Jefferson ruled that the PSD has the right to provide service to properties annexed by the city since May 2000, at least until an agreement is reached. The city will pay the district to provide the service.
     The reasoning behind all the wrangling is that entities such as the James Island PSD have the right to compensation if part of their fiscal base is eroded by annexation. Because such districts make capital investments - for example, the PSD recently paid more than $400,000 for new garbage trucks - they need a stream of income to help pay off the debts.
     In a similar dispute, the PSD last year won the right to continue providing fire protection service to properties annexed by the city since 1996.
     If the city and PSD can't reach an agreement on providing sanitation service, each side would appoint a mediator, who would together then appoint a third. That group would then settle the matter with a decision that would be binding on both entities, Regan said.
     Meanwhile, some confusion might be resulting from the garbage grudge match. Folly Beach Mayor Vernon Knox, who is planning to rent out a townhouse he owns on James Island, said he's not sure who is going to pick up the trash there.
     The PSD told him that because the house sits on property annexed before May 2000, it's the city's responsibility, he said. But the city told him they weren't sure if it was their job either, he said.
     Knox said he's not particularly bothered - the house won't be occupied until February - and he expected to get the issue sorted out Monday.
     But the larger issues won't go away so easily.
     The city and PSD have been engaged in something like legal trench warfare for years, as the city continues to annex onto the island and the PSD fights to preserve its tax base and relevance.
     And the lawyers don't hesitate to needle the other side.
     Regan said the PSD recently dropped several of its legal battles against the annexation of the Parrot Point property on the island, although one challenge is still pending.
     He said the PSD's battle to keep the sanitation service is a waste of time.
     "This has cost the PSD and the city and the county more money than we're talking about," he said. "This is a big tempest in a teapot," Regan said.
     But Kernodle pointed out that the PSD's legal successes mean that future annexations are, in some ways, meaningless.
     "If I annex into the city tomorrow, the PSD will get 100 percent of the taxes," he said.
     The lawyers did agree that they will meet soon to attempt to work out an arrangement.