Solid waste board OKs grants
Board meets to award grant funding
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
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WINTERSVILLE - The Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority Monday approved more than $30,000 in comprehensive grants to seven local entities.
The comprehensive grants were initiated earlier this year and communities had to show a benefit for citizens of Jefferson or Belmont counties.
Steubenville and St. Clairsville and Pultney Township in Belmont County each received the maximum $5,000 for recycling initiatives and will provide a 20 percent match. Wintersville was awarded $5,000 for a composting initiative.
The solid waste authority also approved a $4,890 grant for Irondale, $3,220 for Wheeling/Union township and a $2,300 recycling initiative grant for Martins Ferry City Schools.
Patrick Lanaghan, executive director of the solid waste authority, awarded discretionary $1,000 grants to Belco Works, St. Clairsville, the Indian Creek High School Key Club, Jefferson County 4-H, Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, Pultney Township, the Steubenville Revitalization Group, the School of Hope, Trinity Health System and the Wintersville Betterment Committee. The mini grants will be used for a variety of projects, including a shred to save event, the purchase of playground equipment made of recycled plastic and the purchase of litter receptacles for Steubenville's downtown business district.
St. Clairsville also received a $560 mini grant to purchase community garden composting bins.
Lanaghan also announced the solid waste authority will award $1,000 Sam's Club gift cards to each school district in Jefferson and Belmont counties, including the School of Bright Promise and School of Hope, that participated in recycling efforts in 2008.
In other matters, Lanaghan told the board that while solid waste tonnage reports from the Apex Landfill have reflected an approximately 15 percent decrease for the first two months of 2009, "the Apex managers are telling me their tonnage should be close to last year's numbers by April."
"Apex has purchased a third transfer station in New York City and now has a new contract with New York to haul solid waste material to the Apex Landfill. We budgeted for an anticipated decrease in the Apex fees paid to us, but they expect those fees to be at last year's levels soon," explained Lanaghan.
In other business:
The board delayed a decision on accepting a membership on the Progress Alliance advisory board until the April meeting.
The board tabled a proposal to install electric power to the recycling cell and trailer located at the Jefferson County Services Complex
Lanaghan announced the second annual e-cycling collections have been tentatively scheduled for Aug. 15 at the Ohio Valley Mall and Aug. 22 at the Fort Steuben Mall.
"I am also meeting with representatives of Waste Technologies Industries later this month to discuss our second-annual household hazardous waste materials collection. Last year we held the event in Jefferson County, and I am planning on hold this year's collection in Belmont County," noted Lanaghan.
Lanaghan said he will meet this week with the Portage County Solid Waste District to discuss taking recyclable materials to their facility.
"We have been informed by our current facility at Neville Island that they will start charging us a fee, and that means they will be putting that material in a landfill," said Lanaghan.
The board approved the purchase of two new 20-yard trailers for recycling collection in Jefferson County.
"When we service the existing trailers located at Riesbeck's and Kroger we have to take the full trailer to our recycling cell. This will allow us to place an empty trailer when we are taking away the full recycling trailer," said Tom Bottorf, solid waste authority chairman.
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