Waste district extends recycling

Jay County residents will continue to have recycling trailers available on Saturday mornings.

Jay County Solid Waste Management District on Monday approved a three-year contract for the trailers with Waste Management that will carry through April 2021.

After hearing the new proposed contract last month, board members had asked if they could set a standard pick-up date for the Bryant site in order to avoid an inactivity fee charged for any trailer not emptied within 40 days. District director Samantha Rhodehamel confirmed with Waste Management that such an arrangement can be made.

Given that provision, board members Jeanne Houchins, Barry Hudson, Mike Leonhard, Bill Gibson, Gene Ritter and Randy Geesaman, absent Chuck Huffman, approved the new contract.

The district will pay increased rates across the board, with new costs ranging from $185 to $335 for hauling trailers to the various locations in the county. The current rates range between $175 and $318.

The per-ton disposal rate will also go up to $45.50 per ton from the current $44, and Waste Management has added a fuel surcharge based on federal rates. There is also a $5 contaminated load fee for any trailer that includes more than 10 percent “unacceptable materials,” but Rhodehamel reported that such a situation has never come up with the trailers in Jay County.

Board members also decided to send checks to each of the groups — Penn Husky Hoosier Hotshots 4-H Club, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts — who work at the recycling trailer in Pennville. Cindy Murphy, who is involved with those groups, said they had been having difficulty getting payment from Pennville Community Center.

The community center had been receiving the checks from the solid waste district, though no one on the board could remember how or why that arrangement had been reached. In turn, board members decided to cut out the middle man and pay the groups directly.

In other business, the board:

•Was reminded that Tox Away Day is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Jay County High School parking lot.

•Hired Mercer Concrete to install a new porch, ramp and railings at the district office at a cost of $6,270.

•Learned the district brought in $24,616.99 in tipping fees on 14,208.94 tons dumped at Jay County Landfill in August. Also paid claims totaling $24,897.81, bringing the district’s overall cash balance to $468,453.17.