Vannatta said he was stepping down for "the betterment of the board and for me personally." He also stated he could not remember exactly how long he had served as chairman.

Venson Hawkins was unanimously elected as the new chairman and Vannatta will continue to serve on the authority as a member.

Board members seemed pleased with the first two weeks of the authority's new scrap metal contract with Middle Tennessee Metal Recovery for $85 a ton. Highway Superintendent Stanley Smotherman, who manages the waste disposal program for SWA, reported that around $600 had been taken in just one week.

Smotherman added that accepting electronics has helped and will cut down on the material that goes into the Cedar Ridge landfill. Vannatta said this could "amount to a lot of money throughout the year."

Gay Irvin said that a sign needs to be placed near Shelbyville Recycled Fiber so that citizens would know where to take plastics for recycling, but Shelbyville city codes prevent that from taking place. She asked the two city councilmen on the Authority, Lee Roy Cunningham and Fred Harrison, to look into the matter.

The authority approved spending $1,300 for buses to transport children to Environmental Awareness Day, which takes place from April 28 - May 1 at the Bedford County Agriculture Pavilion. Around 1,700 school children attend the event every year.

Also approved were the purchasing of advertisements for plastic recycling and the upcoming Hazardous Household Waste Collection Event, scheduled for April 12.

This year's event will be held at the Big Springs Shopping Center parking lot from 8 a.m. until noon. The program will no longer accept small batteries such as alkaline or rechargeables since they are no longer made with mercury and can be safely landfilled.