Steps towards the possible purchase of a building at 225 S. Union St. for household hazardous waste collection have been taken by Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District Director Marsha Eikenberry.

Not necessarily with the approval of the KCSWMD board, however.

Wednesday, Eikenberry told the board that after they toured the building last month, she talked to the district's attorney, Mike Armey, about the building. She said he told her she should get a phase I environmental study of the property completed and get the property appraised. Armey helped Eikenberry find a company to do the environmental study for only $1,400.

"There's no environmental problems with that property whatsoever," Eikenberry told the board.

John Shively, of Title I, will complete an appraisal of the property next week. The appraisal will cost approximately $680.

Under the advice of Armey, Eikenberry also had Tom Buchan, property owner, give an asking price for the property. She said his asking price was $250,000 to $300,000. Buchan would want the district to lease the property for two years before buying the property.

Brad Jackson, county commissioner and KCSWMD board member, said Eikenberry should have made an offer to Buchan subject to the appraisal, the environmental study and other conditions. Plus, he said, "I didn't really know there was a strong consensus to buy it."

Eikenberry replied that she thought the board was getting to that point. Jackson said he thought the board was just touring it last month and then would discuss it at Wednesday's meeting. He said this was just another example of government getting too big.

It's not about how big government is getting, Eikenberry replied, but how you want the government to serve the people. She said purchasing the building and having household hazardous waste collection year-round could save the district more than $15,000 a year. Plus, it will enable the district to provide services to the people that they want and provide solutions to county waste and recycling problems. It also may bring revenue into the county.

Jackson questioned the timing of the project and Eikenberry's spending of the approximate $2,000 for the appraisal and environmental study without the board's permission.

"I just thought that was the way the board was moving," said Eikenberry. She said they had to do the environmental study of the property because they had to know if the property was worth purchasing. She also said that whoever bought the property would have to do the study anyway.

Jackson said that's not necessarily true. "Everything in life is negotiable," he said. He said he wants the board to discuss it more next month.

Eikenberry said they couldn't wait too long to lease/buy the property because R.R. Donnelley and Sons donated a HHW storage building to the district that needs to be moved soon. The building is needed to operate a continuous HHW collection program.

Sue Studebaker, SWMD education coordinator, said, "One- day (HHW) collections are getting ridiculous." She said people won't wait in line for HHW collection.

"Where does it end?" Jackson asked, regarding services government provides.

In other business:

• Chuck Hogan, insurance agent with Source One, submitted to the board the insurance proposal for Eikenberry. Her insurance premium would be $265 per month with a $500 deductible and a co-pay of 80-20. It includes preventive medical care and a prescription card. For her disability and life insurance, she will have to go through separate insurance companies, with a base cost of $23-$33 a month for disability and $121 a year for life insurance. Because of a lack of quorum, the board took no action, but will vote on Eikenberry's insurance at the July 12 meeting.

• Dale Custer, Superior Excavating, told the SWMD board the "window turner" for the composting site has now gone up in price by $30,000. Eikenberry said she talked with the salesman and he told her he thought that he could get the price lowered by $15,000 from the factory. However, that still creates an unplanned expense of $15,000 for the compost project.

During the board meeting, Marsha asked Custer if buying a smaller machine was feasible. Custer replied he would have to check the fine print of the grant. Eikenberry said the Indiana Department of Environmental Management grant expires in October so something has to be done by then. She also will talk to IDEM about the compost project, the size of the equipment and the possible extension of the grant.

The purchase of the turner was delayed because of IDEM's delay in approving the grant.

• KCSWMD will have a booth at the fair. The county fair is July 9 to 16.

• The district's newsletter will be in the July 3 edition of the Times-Union.

SWMD board members are Avis Gunter, Brad Jackson, Ernie Wiggins, David Delp and Joe Thallemer. [[In-content Ad]]