Matagorda County's transfer station is easy to get wrong, and the county says so itself. The site is at 679 County Road 147, reached from CR 147 off FM 2540 — it is not in the town of Matagorda and not at El Maton, both of which have their own separate collection centres. The station supervisor is on (979) 479-4084 and the county Environmental Health department on (979) 244-2717.
The gate keeps two schedules and both close earlier than the posted finish. Weekdays run 9:00am to 4:00pm with the gate shutting at 3:00pm; Saturday runs 8:00am to 1:00pm with the gate shutting at noon. Arrive in that final hour and you will not get in.
Payment is cash or cheque. Credit cards are not taken at all. The county's published fee sheet, effective 1 May 2022 and marked subject to change, sets loose non-compacted waste of all classes at $100.00 per ton. That sheet is now several years old, so treat the figure as a guide and confirm at the scale.
The tarp rule here is absolute and expensive. A load arriving without a tarp is charged $30.00, and the county states plainly that there are no exceptions. There are vehicle restrictions too: no trailers over 20 feet unless they are end dumps, no car haulers, no flat-bed trailers, and a 30-yard maximum on roll-off boxes. End dumps and roll-offs are accepted Monday to Friday only and are turned away on Saturdays.
If the transfer station does not suit, the county runs two smaller citizens collection centres under its precinct commissioners. El Maton is at 1200 FM 459, open Friday and Saturday 8:00am to 4:00pm, contact Precinct 4 on (361) 588-6866. The Matagorda centre is at 945 CR 259, open Saturday, Sunday and Monday 9:00am to 5:00pm, contact Precinct 2 on (979) 863-7861. The county notes those hours can change, so ring the commissioner's office first.