Books will be made available

The solid waste district hopes to be able to make use of those books, which are expected to be delivered to its office in May. They will first be offered to other local schools, home schools, day cares and churches, and then to the general public.

“If we can re-home 2,000 of the books, we’ll be very pleased,” said Jacobs. “We’d like to do more than that.”

The board also discussed how to potentially encourage more Jay County residents, and specifically Portland residents, to recycle.

Suggestions included going door-to-door with information about recycling, and possibly with recycling containers as well. Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter also suggested the possibility of setting recycling goals, which could lead to financial incentives.

Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman, who is also a solid waste district board member, noted that costs for curbside recycling will be going up as the city considers new contracts this week. Several board members noted that though all Portland residents are charged for recycling, participation numbers seem low.

In other business, the board:

•Heard the district will have billboards going up next week at the intersection of Indiana 67 and county road 200 South, and along Indiana 67 on the east side of Redkey. They will feature artwork by East Jay and West Jay middle school students.

•Agreed to donate 50 bags made out of recycled materials as prizes for Dunkirk Public Library’s summer reading program.

•Learned there was an issue with recycling in Redkey this month because a group did not show up to work a trailer as scheduled. The result was three truckloads of excess items left outside the recycling trailer.

•Were reminded that Jacobs will lead a rain barrel workshop at 6 p.m. April 20 at the district office, 5948 W. Indiana 67, Portland.

•Heard from Jacobs that she spoke to a meeting involving attendees from 11 counties for the Indiana Home Extension Association.

•Learned the district brought in $16,803.71 in tipping fees on 9,699.11 tons in February at Jay County Landfill. It also paid $35,950.67 in claims, leaving a total cash balance of $416,878.59.