Battery project a hit (12/23/03)

A new collection program for a wide variety of household batteries is a big hit, the director of a local waste district told her board Monday.

Kay Hayes, executive director of the Jay County Solid Waste District, said Monday that the battery collection program is “going great.”

Several plastic buckets full and half-full of batteries were lined up along a wall Monday at district headquarters, located at Ind. 67 and county road 400 South.

A total of 12 collection sites are located across the county in Bryant, Dunkirk, Pennville, Portland, Redkey and Salamonia, and a wide variety of batteries are accepted.

Also Monday, Hayes told board members that a local sorority is planning to expand a collection program to include more consumer electronic devices.

Beta Sigma Phi, which has collected used cell phones for recycling for about a year as a money-making project, will expand that collection effort in coordination with a company called Recellular. Also to be collected will be personal digital assistants (PDAs), other electronic devices and ink and toner cartridges.

For more information on either recycling program, call Hayes at (260) 729-5071.

Also Monday, waste district board members got a rosy report from Hayes on the district’s financial picture.

Income from a $1.50 per ton tipping fee on trash dumped in the Jay County Landfill brought in more than $26,000 in November. That income left Jay County with a checking account balance of $116,462.77 after all claims for December were paid — including a $10,000 re-payment to Jay County for expenses incurred in the formation of the district.

In other business Monday, board members Bill Gibson, Jim Hedges, Gary Theurer, Milo Miller Jr., and Mike Leonhard:

•Awarded a contract for construction of a 40-foot by 40-foot pole building at district headquarters to local contractor George Loyd at a price of $19,000. Loyd had the second-lowest quote, but won the job after Leonhard, owner of M&E Construction, removed himself from the running. Leonhard said he had discussed the process with district attorney Brad Burkett. “It’s come to my attention that I shouldn’t have bid,” Leonhard said.

•Approved a donation of approximately $600 to the Dunkirk Glass Museum for the purchase of a display case.

•Said goodbye to Hedges, whose service on the board will end when his term as Portland Mayor expires Dec. 31. Bruce Hosier and Sam Hubbard, the new mayors of Portland and Dunkirk, respectively, will join the waste district board in January.

•Were reminded of a special board meeting Monday, Jan. 5, at 3 p.m. in the commissioners’ room of the Jay County Courthouse. The meeting will be to approve an additional appropriation to fund the 2004 budget. A required hearing on the budget was not held when it was adopted earlier this year, making the special meeting necessary.

•Adopted a salary resolution for 2004, setting the maximum salary for Hayes at $29,870 and the maximum salary for administrative assistant Jill Cochran at $20,000. Also approved was an increase in the maximum district health insurance contribution per employee per month, to $426.[[In-content Ad]]