Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District Board is looking at waiving residential drop-off fees for an amnesty period.
At the board's meeting on Tuesday, KCSWMD Executive Director Tom Ganser proposed waiving residential drop-off fees for an extended amount of time, either several months or for the rest of 2024. Ganser said his proposal was based on income from fees, which are projected to be $500,000.
“I don’t think we're going to get hurt at all,” Ganser said. He also mentioned waiving fees might help move material from going to a landfill.
County Commissioner Cary Groninger raised concerns over confusion of the cost if the KCSWMD moved back to charging. The current charge for processing electronics is 10 cents a pound for drop-off at the Recycling Depot, which Ganser said costs the depot 25 cents a pound.
The board voted to do a three-month amnesty period for drop-off. While it wasn’t discussed during the meeting, Ganser said the amnesty period will likely cover April, May and June. A start date will be announced at a later time.
In other business, Ganser reported the Recycling Depot is temporarily not accepting cooking oil. “(Mahoney Environmental) pulled it due to contamination,” he said.
The 400-gallon container was placed outside and dumped three to four times a year, Ganser said. He reported he is looking to find a new company to replace Mahoney Environmental for services.
“We might have to keep (the new container) inside and only take cooking oil when we’re open so it doesn’t get contaminated,” Ganser said.
The board also approved moving the meeting for April from April 9 to 11 a.m. April 23 due to a scheduling conflict for Ganser.