County

Solid waste board to pay for small town recycling

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Members of the Montgomery County Solid Waste Board agreed Wednesday to pay all recycling costs for small towns in the county.

It was discovered when the board formed in 2021 that not all the participating towns were being treated equally. Waynetown and the solid waste board were splitting the recycling fees paid to Walden Transport and Recycling. While other towns, like Waveland, were not paying any fees and the county was picking up the tab.

In 2024, the county will pay recycling fees in towns that are currently participating in a recycling program as well as for the bins at North Montgomery High School and Southmont High School, which are available to all county residents. This agreement includes the towns Ladoga, New Ross, Waveland and Waynetown. Alamo, Darlington, Linden, New Market, New Richmond and Wingate do not have recycling bins.

Dan Guard, board president, believes all the towns who have recycling bins should be treated equally. Furthermore, he added the board should not expect Crawfordsville to pay toward the small towns’ expenses, and that the city will continue to pay for its recycling bins.

Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton, who serves on the MCSW board, said he had no problem with using MCSW as a pass-through to pay Walden. Crawfordsville will continue to pay what it has been paying into the solid waste fund.

The city and county will split the costs for programs, like Tox-Away Day, that benefit all county residents.

The restructuring means the county will need to make an additional appropriation to the solid waste district’s 2024 budget in the amount of $12,000.

The board also agreed that any town that does not currently have recycling bins will have to wait for 2025 to add the service.


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