News
The final public hearing on parcel fees brings new perspectives and new options
By: Lucy Schaefer
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LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB) — A proposed parcel fee to preserve the local recycling center received a cool reception in Logan last week.
It was the last of three public hearings put on by the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District.
The parcel fee would tax properties in Athens and Hocking counties with structures on them that receive services from the district.
The district would use part of that money to buy the Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers.
AHRC’s Executive Director Crissa Cummings said at the hearing that the center “is in a huge amount of financial trouble right now due to the loss of the contract in the city of Athens.”
Solid Waste District Executive Director Jane Forrest Redfern has presented two options as part of the district’s 15-year financial plan: impose parcel fees at $24 per year or raise other garbage rates within the district.
At Thursday’s hearing, she put another option on the table: It would knock the parcel fee down to $15 annually and increase landfill rates.
However much the fee comes out to, many residents weren’t happy.
Marjie Moore expressed her concern about a specific part of the community.
“A lot of us here can pay that $15 or $24 a month, but I see seniors coming through my door every day that can’t hardly pay for their food,” Moore said.
The three people who spoke in favor of the fees are all affiliated with the Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers.
This included Cummings, who said she’s willing to pay the fee even if she has to pay for multiple parcels.
“That $72 is well worth the amount that I would be paying for the services that I get,” Cummings said.
AHRC’s Assistant Treasurer Maria Galanti said not approving the parcel fee would be a step in the wrong direction.
“Hocking County needs to move forward, we can’t move backward,” Galanti said. “We can’t just say we don’t want to recycle.”
The Solid Waste District board is expected to vote on the fees on Thursday.