Old topics discussed again by district

An organization charged with promoting recycling did just that, as several key issues decided last month were once again the subject of vigorous discussion.
As members of the Jay County Solid Waste District board of directors began the process of budgeting for 2011, cuts in funding, personnel changes and affirming an increase in revenue made for a lively meeting Monday.
The board, which learned last month that Kay Hayes will be leaving as district director in the fall, discussed how personnel will be structured following Hayes’ departure.
Under a plan to reduce employees by attrition, the favored move would give financial assistant Jill Hall greater responsibility and an increase in salary to $30,000.
Board member Jim Zimmerman suggested the district should consider contracting for the educational role filled by Hayes, who has been director of the single-county district since its formation in 2002.
Hall concurred with that suggestion, saying that speaking to groups is not her strong suit.
The board approved the first reading of a proposed $166,810 budget Monday, with the realization that shifting of funds could be done in personal services line items without increasing the budget total.
The budget, as proposed, is about $83,000 less than the current year — largely by eliminating one position. Present and voting to OK the budget were Milo Miller Jr., Faron Parr, Bill Gibson, Dan Orr, Bruce Hosier and Zimmerman.
Portland’s Mayor Hosier, who was not present at the June meeting when fellow board members trimmed a $12,000 subsidy for Portland’s curbside recycling program, made a pitch for reinstatement of those funds.
Asking other members about the importance of education and recycling, he said, “Is it important enough that the only full-time recycling program in the county be zeroed out? A big part of what the solid waste district is about is recycling … and I think it’s a good investment.”
Portland residents have a $3 monthly fee added to water and sewer bills for recycling. Although the annual amount paid to a contractor to pick up recyclables at the curb now exceeds the total raised, a surplus remains in the city’s recycling fund.
Zimmerman, a rural Redkey resident who has said several times that rural residents pay to recycling by driving to the district’s Saturday drop-off sites, got into a spirited discussion with Hosier and said, “Budget-wise, we have to look at what we can do.”
At one point, Zimmerman interrupted Hosier, causing Hosier to say, “Allow me to finish if you would please.”
Zimmerman later apologized.
“We do appreciate the past support the district has given,” Hosier said. We’d like to see some support continue.”
During reading of the budget, Hosier asked about a $5,000 line item under other services and charges. Hayes and Hall could not detail where that money has been spent in the past, but promised to look it up and provide the information to Hosier.
Also Monday, the board affirmed its June decision to increase the district tipping fee to $1.75 per ton beginning Aug. 1 from its current level of $1.25. The fee is collected by Jay County Landfill owner/operator Waste Management of Indiana on each ton of trash deposited in the landfill.
Landfill volumes have been on a steady decline over the past two or three years, despite the district lowering the tipping fee several years ago, and as a result the district has seen a steady decline in revenue.
Barry Ledbetter, who oversees operations at the local landfill, has expressed  concerns in the past about the increased tipping fee making Jay County Landfill less competitive in the effort to win contracts.
“It’s a difficult situation for everybody … we have concerns about the volume going down,” Ledbetter said.
Board president Miller, who had been a holdout against raising the fee until last month, told Ledbetter, “Right now we’re in a crunch and we have to do something about it.”
In other business, board members:
•Approved claims totaling $16,391.57, leaving balances of $20,417.76 in checking and $72,628.67 in an investment account.
•Learned that district income for June was $15,032, on 12,147.57 tons of trash.[[In-content Ad]]