PROSPERITY — The Town of Prosperity has partnered with Advance Disposal to take care of sanitation needs for the residents in town.

All council members approved of the company coming in to take over the trash pickup of the utilities and while there is a contract with pending final negotiations, the town is content with this decision.

The details to be worked out are minute such as what to do in case of storms and other natural disasters among other things, according to Karen Livingston, town administrator.

Mayor Derek Underwood said, “We are our utility provider for the Town of Prosperity but there comes a time where services can be provided better.”

After the approval by council was made, Underwood said, “This is the best move for the town.”

Livingston added that they hope to start on or around the beginning of November.

The Advance Disposal also does recycling and this is something that perhaps the town may also come around to doing as well.

The utility department’s Ed West said, “The size of the town compared with the cost is prohibitive to do it in house. This will be a great savings for the town. It can get costly especially with the age of the equipment.”

The town’s utility department did not lose any employees in this partnership. In fact, they actually gain a lot of help with Advance Disposal coming to help with the sanitation area.

In other news, the town is looking towards some sort of insurance for their leased properties which include the walking track beside Wightman Methodist Church and the wildlife area.

The old leases are from the 1970s and the town needs to take a second look especially with liability issues arising in general.

For example, the walking tack is only for walking and not for parking or other activities.

“The real issue is with insurance,” said the town attorney Henry Bufkin.

The council tabled the discussion to executive session where they could receive legal counsel about the insurance coverage for the two leased properties.

In police department news, police administrator Benji Sease says they are working on staffing issues and one of their police officers is working overtime and they have a couple of volunteers are are going “above and beyond” to help the town out.

Sease commended these officers for their dedication and he said he will have something for the next meeting.