We’re enjoying the energy we’re seeing coming out of city hall.

While the city gets its share of knocks from citizens and even rrspin.com on occasion, there is something refreshing that shows the city is working behind the scenes on helping its taxpayers.

News we just broke on a direct haul trash option is just one of them. The city is continually looking at other cost-saving measures and working to make itself as efficient as possible.

This energy is something that should be noted by its citizens, too. The city could have just laid down and surrendered when the many theater deals flopped but it didn’t and we believe it won’t.

This direct haul trash option is one of the best deals we’ve seen come out of city hall and we believe the city should pursue it.

We know it alienates the county but upwards of $120,000 to $140,000 a year savings is hard to ignore.

Going this route eliminates negotiations that could get nasty or, God forbid, political, words that almost seem interchangeable to us these days.

Going this route cuts out negotiations with Waste Industries, which, judging from the memo we reported on, is not in a mood to negotiate.

We applaud the city for investigating this matter and going as far to make trial runs to give us an idea of what these costs will be.

Public Works Director Larry Chalker feels confident the city can possibly negotiate an even better rate with the landfill in Virginia, giving us further incentive to encourage them to continue to pursue this vigorously.

Today’s story offers a glimpse into what the city is attempting to do for its citizens and we’re enjoying seeing this energy come out of city hall — Editor