During a meeting on Wednesday, Tom Koogler, a Greene County commissioner and a SWD policy committee member, suggested gradually reducing the yard waste site’s hours to keep it open on Saturdays or twice a week.
“That seems to be the big day when most people are bringing it in,” Koogler said. “So that would solve some of the problems for most people bringing materials into Xenia. ”
The Xenia yard waste site is currently open five days a week.
Discussion about keeping the Xenia site open with limited hours comes at a time when the SWD is moving toward privatizing yard waste collection. The committee planned to close Xenia site in March, however those plans stalled after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the committee advising it to hold off on closing the facility. The site closure was not included in SWD’s approved five-year plan.
According to Koogler, closing the site in Xenia would save Greene County Environmental Services, a division of the county sanitary engineering department, more than $200,000 in 2015. About $172,600 would be saved on salaries by eliminating four positions, according to county documents. Another $31,000 would be saved on utilities, supplies and fuel and repairs for vehicles and equipment.
The SWD has reached an informal agreement with private companies, BioSource Inc. on U.S. Route 68 South in Xenia and Eco-Green Recycling Enterprises LLC on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road in Fairborn, to accept yard waste at no cost. A memorandum of understanding for both companies has been drafted, but has not been signed by the committee.
County commissioners have concerns about the free untreated mulch that is currently available at the county yard waste site, according to Brandon Huddleson, Greene County assistant administrator.
“The feedback that they’re getting is what happens to the mulch and where does it go,” Huddleson said.
There is no provision for free mulch in the unsigned memorandums of understanding with BioSource and Eco-Green Recycling Enterprises.
“The mulch is the only issue that’s going to be a negative,” Koogler said. “But then again, that really never part of our plan to give away mulch. Our plan is for recycling.”
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