Solid waste authority reorganizes; OKs raises
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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WINTERSVILLE - The Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority reorganized Monday for the new year, approved pay raises for the office staff and hired a media consulting firm.
Tom Bottorf of Jefferson County unanimously was elected chairman of the solid waste authority. He replaced Mark Thomas of Belmont County whose term expired Dec. 31.
Board members also elected Mark McVey of Belmont County as vice chairman and Bruce Misselwitz of Jefferson County as secretary for the new year.
The board met in executive session for approximately 20 minutes before publicly approving a 3 percent pay raise for seven office staff employees.
McVey said the 3 percent increase had been recommended by Cleamons-Nelson Consultants in order to bring the staff employees to the average wage for similar positions in other solid waste authorities in Ohio.
"We gave our drivers a $4-an-hour raise in 2006 to bring them to the state average for similar jobs in Ohio, and I am asking you to think about that as you consider the office staff employees salary scale," said solid waste authority Executive Director Patrick Lanaghan before the executive session.
The board also approved the hiring of Em-Media to serve as the agency's media consultant for 2009.
Rose Orsetti and Jim Emmerling of Em-Media told the solid waste authority they will propose doubling the agency's advertising campaign budget to $40,000 in 2009.
In other matters, two Steubenville officials appealed to the solid waste authority for funds to clean up two illegal dump sites in the city, but were told to apply for a grant.
First Ward Councilman Gerald DiLoreto and City Manager Bruce Williams, a member of the solid waste authority, asked the agency to allocate funding to clean up the illegal dump sites in the city's south end.
"We have a plan in place now that allows nonprofit agencies, government entities and schools to apply for grants. The deadline for those grant applications to be submitted is Feb. 15, and I recommend we stick with the plan. If the board starts to expand the program and starts picking and choosing which community gets money, it will become a lot more involved," said Lanaghan.
"We are attacking this problem in two ways. First we have the grant process to help clean up these sites. Second, we are working on an environmental enforcement officer position in both Jefferson and Belmont counties," explained Lanaghan.
"This is a 50-year problem that won't be cleaned up overnight. Our plan went into effect in November and I think we have a pretty good plan in place to start," added Lanaghan.
John Mascio, legal counsel for the board, urged the trustees to work within the plan and, "allocate the money accordingly. There should not be any preferential treatment to any political subdivision.
"I'm not sure a $5,000 grant will even make a dent in the landfills described by Mr. DiLoreto. We may have to rent special equipment to get to these sites. One is on a hillside that isn't easily accessible," said Williams.
"Some people don't respect property rights and they will throw trash on abandoned private property. Every community on this board has the same problem. I think if we can be responsible and assertive on how we review these grant applications we can get a lot done," noted Williams.
"This isn't just a problem here. Let's work through our plan for the next couple of months," Bottorf urged.
In other business:
Lanaghan reported the solid waste authority saw a total of 4,078,121 pounds of material recycled in both counties in 2008.
"That is a major and huge increase from 2005 when we had 977,000 pounds of recycled material recorded," said Lanaghan.
The board approved an agreement with Belmont County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to park recycling trailers on that agency's property.
Lanaghan said the solid waste authority received $133,153.25 from the Apex Landfill for November tipping fees.
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