Waste district hears funding requests

With a possible tough budget year ahead, members of the Jay County Solid Waste Management District weren't prepared to give an immediate answer to two entities asking for continued support.

Representatives from the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District and the city of Portland each asked for continued support from waste district board members Monday afternoon.

The soil and water district, which has been funded by the waste district for the past three years, asked for $10,000, while Portland asked for a renewal of a $12,000 subsidy from the district for the city's curbside recycling program.

The requests were taken under advisement, but no promises were made during Monday's meeting.

Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier, a member of the district board, and clerk-treasurer Randy Geesaman spoke on the city's behalf.

Portland charges each water customer a $3 per month fee for recycling, but for the past several years that has not been enough to pay the total amount of the contract. The city, which has a surplus in a recycling fund, asked the district for support last year and was granted $12,000.

"The city of Portland ... is the only one in the county that has a full-time curbside recycling program," Hosier said Monday in urging his fello board members to support the request.

Making the pitch for soil and water conservation district funding were Carl Walker, chairman of the district board of supervisors, and district employee Bettie Jacobs.

The SWCD anticipates expenses of $34,600 and income of $27,600 for 2010. That income would include $10,000 from the waste district and $6,000 from Jay County Commissioners.

Neither amount has been approved.

"We're bound and determined as a county and a district to do what we can (to fight soil erosion)," Walker said.

Waste District board members Bill Gibson, Milo Miller Jr., Jim Zimmerman and Hosier took the requests under advisement.

Although the district has built a surplus of more than $160,000, income in the form of tipping fees collected by the Jay County Landfill is down significantly. The waste district receives $1.25 for each ton of trash deposited in the landfill.

Also Monday, the board learned that the district's annual Tox-Away Day could be moved to a new location this fall. The household hazardous waste collection is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Jay County Fairgrounds.

But district director Kay Hayes said Monday that a horse show is scheduled at the fairgrounds that day, and that the increased amount of traffic - including trucks - could cause problems with the horses.

Hayes told the board she would check with officials from the Jay School Corporation to see if use of the high school grounds for Tox-Away Day would be possible.

In other business during Monday's meeting:

•The district's Citizens Advisory Committee held a brief joint meeting. CAC members Bob Sours, John Stockton and Barry Ledbetter were present for the meeting. Those members said they were pleased with the present compensation and bonus system for the groups staffing the district's Saturday drop-off recycling trailers.

"The (CAC) feels like the groups are being treated fairly," Sours said.

•Approved claims totaling $26,259.97. Claims were abnormally high because one of two payroll periods in May fell after the May board meeting, so current claims included one additional pay for district employees. District income for May was $18,907, based on 15,278.12 tons of trash.

•Heard Hayes report that the district has had "a busy month. We've had a lot of groups wanting items from the re-use center."

•Briefly discussed possible help for the Jay County Highway Department in disposal of tires dumped in ditches along county roads. Miller, who is also president of Jay County Commissioners, said that he had not yet discussed several proposals with highway superintendent Ken Wellman.

"I dropped the ball on that one and I'll talk to him," Miller said.[[In-content Ad]]