Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The new solid waste district's facility was toured by board and community advisory committee members Wednesday during an informal open house.
The K C Recycling Depot, 220 S. Union St. is not quite ready to handle household hazardous waste.
The property shares a recycling site with Stafford Waste.
A public open house is scheduled for Oct. 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to district director Sue Studebaker.
The regularly scheduled board meeting gathered around a table that used to dominate a room in the Center Street office, yet takes up only a quarter of the new meeting room.
A final reading of the 2002 budget was approved. The new tax rate was set at $.003, compared to the old levy of $.00273.
Since neither the director nor the educator, Rachel Brandenburg, are receiving raises, Studebaker asked that Brandenburg be given pay for nine recognized holidays.
After much discussion this was approved for the part-time employee only if Brandenburg works 35 hours the week before the holiday. Other conditions were that the holiday pay applies only in 2002 and applies only to Brandenburg.
County auditor Sue Ann Mitchell, who also serves as the district's controller, advised the board that Studebaker share the cell phone bill with the district and asked whether or not that rate should be fixed.
The board decided Studebaker should not pay for any of the cell phone bill unless there were charges for exceeding the 440-minutes-per-month limit.
Thallemer asked the board to set up a protocol regarding what will be accepted at the depot and what hours they will be open.
A building to store household waste was donated by R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. and will be emptied regularly.
Jail trusties will be used to collect and move the waste and Studebaker said there has been some trouble having them on a regular basis.
"We've been told we can't have them on a permanent basis," she said, "then we won't have them at all for a week."
Studebaker said she will travel to Marshall, Ind., in November to attend the Environmental Education Association of Indiana, where the district will give a presentation.
Member of the solid waste district are Joe Thallemer, Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, Avis Gunter, Maurice Beer and Rolly Ortega.
