Valdosta, GA (WALB) – Some Valdosta restaurant owners are upset by city ordinances they say are unfair and very expensive.
The city is requiring restaurants old and new to install new grease traps, which can cost thousands of dollars. What business owners are dissatisfied with.
Freddy Temples, director of the Roger Budd Company, said it took two months of work and cost more than $20,000 for a new trap. And they still had to pay over $10,000 in rent while they were closed.
“That’s $14,000 plus labor,” Temples says. “And the workforce will probably be 5,000 to 8,000 workers.”
If grease is not removed properly, it can find its way into sewers and cause problems in wastewater treatment plants.
“We have a working tank. We’ve been working there for 20, 30 years and have never had a complaint,” Temples said. and cost between 20 and 25,000.”
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Business owners are upset, but the city wants them to know that they are simply updating an outdated system because it does not meet the protocol.
“The fog ordinance has always been in place or has been in place since 2009, with some changes in the past depending on the circumstances,” said Scott Fowler, the city’s environmental manager. “But now everyone, every facility… is brought up by the rules.”
City officials said Valdosta wasn’t the only city taking it seriously. Overflowing sewers can cause serious health concerns and costly cleanups.
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