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Athens Councilmember Predicts Passage Of Solid Waste Plan
By: Fred Kight
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Local government officials in Athens and Hocking counties are considering a new management plan for the Athens Hocking Joint Solid Waste District.
The proposed plan is for operations of the district for the next 5 years.
Athens City Councilmember Nancy Bain is predicting passage here in Athens.
The solid waste management plan has already received two readings by Athens City Council and will be up for adoption December 19th.
Perhaps the most controversial provision is a $3 fee which Bain says is needed by the district to pay for state requirements.
"The generation fee is needed in order to expand recycling services into the county," she says. "Right now the rural areas are not" meeting the requirements of the state.
The plan calls for garbage haulers to pay $3 per ton when they dump at the Athens-Hocking Reclamation Center near Nelsonville.
How much will that be for the customers?
"It's $3 per year, per person", says Bain. And "the generation fee will bring in an additional $200,000" per year for the district, according to Bain.
The Athens County Commissioners have already approved the plan but Hocking County officials may not.
They have rejected previous proposals.
And if that should happen again, officials expect the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will step in and take matters into their own hands.