Santa Teresa residents fighting for trash carrier choice

Things are getting messy out in Santa Teresa.

Residents are fighting with the owner of the now-closed Country Club over their choice of trash carrier.

Santa Teresa residents say the owner of the Santa Teresa Country Club claims to own the arterial roads leading into the neighborhood and since he has a contract with El Paso Disposal for trash pickup, they say he’s refusing to allow Mesilla Valley Disposal to enter the neighborhood despite some residents making the switch.

“The land values out here have dropped significantly,” said Santa Teresa home owner David De Camp.

He and neighbor Billy Bob Cannedy have watched in disbelief the past decade as their Santa Teresa neighborhood has taken a nose dive. “There’s a lot of people that are just sick over what’s taking place,” De Camp added.

The Country Club has closed, the golf course is disintegrating into the desert and the roads remain run down.

“It’s just all fallen apart and it’s a shame because it’s a very nice area,” said Cannedy.
About 25 residents in the area, including Cannedy and De Camp, now simply want to choose their trash carrier. Many have contracted with Mesilla Valley Disposal over longtime carrier El Paso Disposal, because Mesilla Valley offers recycling.

“If I choose to have someone come by and do business that’s my perogative,” De Camp said. “I have invited Mesilla Valley to do business with me at this point in time and (Santa Teresa County Club owner Greg Collins) has not allowed them on site.”

De Camp and Cannedy said when Mesilla Valley Disposal truck showed up Tuesday to pick up their trash, they were not allowed inside by the guard here at the gate.

ABC-7 asked the guard about that, but he would not say.

De Camp said it was Collins who also claims to own the arterial roads in the neighborhood, who told the guard not to let Mesilla Valley Disposal in.
ABC-7 left Collins a message, but he did not return calls.

“(Collins) asked Mesilla Valley to give him five dollars a head for everybody they’ve contracted with out here,” De Camp said. “I’m sorry, that’s a kickback!”

A Mesilla Valley Disposal spokeswoman confirmed that Collins asked for the money.
Jess Williams, spokesman for Dona Ana County, told me the county can do little since it doesn’t enforce covenants. He called it a civil matter between the residents and Collins.