Waste district picks Jacobs as educator

An educator with one Jay County agency is bringing her talents to another.
Bettie Jacobs, educator for the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District, was hired as a contract educator Monday for the Jay County Solid Waste District.
Jacobs will remain in her current part-time position with the soil and water district; she is being asked to work an average of 20 hours per month for the waste district, which works to promote recycling and reduction of items going into the waste stream.
Jacobs, a rural Portland resident, was chosen by a district committee as the preferred candidate among three finalists and approved by the full board during its monthly meeting Monday afternoon.
The contract position will carry an annual salary of $5,000 and is being done on a one-year trial basis.
Voting to approve Jacobs for the position were board members Dan Orr, Bill Gibson, Faron Parr, Milo Miller Jr. and Jim Zimmerman.
Orr, a member of the committee that interviewed candidates, said he believes Jacobs will perform well and that “she’s concerned some of the stuff she wants to do, she won’t have time.”
Among the tasks asked of Jacobs will be giving presentations and leading other educational efforts for area schools, representing the district during fair week, and assisting in preparation and execution of the district’s annual household hazardous waste disposal day. Jacobs will begin her duties Feb. 1.
Also Monday, district board members approved a bonus for the not-for-profit groups that staff the Saturday drop-off recycling sites.
The groups will be paid .5 cent per pound of recycling collected over the year, plus a .5 cent bonus for each pound increase over the previous year total collected. In past years, a bonus of 1 penny per pound and a .5 cent increase bonus has been awarded.
The total amount given to the groups in bonus funds will be $5,106.
In other business, board members:
•Gave new director/financial administrator Jill Hall direction on several issues regarding work hours and vacation.
The board asked Hall to update the answering machine at district headquarters when she is planning to be out of the office. Board members also told her she will continue to have two weeks of vacation per year.
Hall has served since 2002 as the district’s financial administrative assistant. Long-time director Kay Hayes resigned at the end of 2010, and members of the board, who struggled with financial issues over the past year, decided to cut a staff member and costs — leaving just one full-time employee for the district.
Hall and Jacobs will be asked to work together to further the district’s mission.
•Were reminded by Hall that the district’s recycling hauling contract with Waste Management of Indiana expires on April 30, 2012. In the past, the renewal of that deal has often taken several months. Board members thanked Hall for the reminder, but said they would wait until Waste Management proposes renewal figures to begin discussions.
•Approved $14,699.35 in claims, leaving $26,031.95 in the district checking account and $52,670 in an investment account. During December, the district received $19,174 in income, based on 11,067.38 tons of trash deposited in the Jay County Landfill. The district’s funding comes from a $1.75 per ton fee collected by the landfill and paid to the district.
•Re-elected officers for 2011. Miller will continue to serve as president, while Gibson will remain as vice president.[[In-content Ad]]