What’s best for recycling, trash?

To the editor:

Portland City Council has demonstrated over the past few months that they as a whole are willing to hold the various boards and city departments accountable.

This willingness resulted in a request for a new recycling ordinance and just recently a rebidding for the city-owned Sheller-Globe south building.

 At the last council meeting, a formal request by Jay County Commissioner Chuck Huffman representing the Jay County Solid Waste Management District was made for the excess unused recycling grant funds. The city's policy for returning grant funds was set in place this past summer when the board of works and the mayor returned state-provided grant monies for sidewalk updating in the High Street area on the west side of the city and blighted housing demolition funds.

The city recycling fund has over $117,000 in it currently and the city council should return the solid waste management district requested amount promptly for use by all county residents. The remaining city recycling fund balance will easily be sufficient to offset any possible recycling contract short fall for several years.

The one topic that has not been openly and fully addressed by council or the mayor is the trash disposal issue. Council had been advised at a 2018 year-end meeting that both current vehicles are at the end of their useful life. The mayor over the course of the past eight months once stated that the trash removal account was in "dire straits.”

The mayor recently approached Portland Redevelopment Commission seeking $162,000 for a new trash truck to be driven to Muncie to a sorting center. Does council support this?

Council should request a full accounting of trash removal cost in Portland for fiscal 2018. This accounting should include prorated equipment replacement cost, daily/weekly operational gas and oil, maintenance cost, tipping fees, all labor cost inclusive of benefits and, lastly, any liability/legacy cost associated with trash removal.

Once this information is openly presented, then council can decide whether Portland should remain in the trash disposal business. Currently, Portland is a minority in the region that provides this service.

Why?

What better long term alternatives are available?

Jeff Hiser

Portland