COLUMBIANA CO. Higher waste fee considered

The solid-waste district's fee is among the lowest in the state, officials say.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- To expand recycling opportunities, authorities are considering raising waste-hauling fees.
The Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison Joint Solid Waste District is pondering a plan that would boost the waste-generation fee from $2.50 per ton to $5 per ton, Columbiana County Commissioner Sean Logan said recently.
The fee increase is being considered to raise additional revenue so the district can meet a state demand to expand recycling opportunities, said Logan, who serves as chairman of the solid-waste district board.
"It's a state mandate, and we need to do it," Logan said.
The district has eight permanent and seven mobile sites in Columbiana County where recyclable materials can be dropped off.
Permanent sites are usually open daily; mobile sites are open certain days of the month.
Recycling effort: To increase recycling, the district is considering converting Columbiana County's seven mobile sites into permanent ones and adding 10 more permanent sites.
Also being pondered is converting the 14 mobile sites in Carroll and Harrison counties to permanent ones.
Constructing a permanent site costs about $10,000. Operating one can run anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000 per year.
The district's $2.50 fee raises about $280,000 per year, not nearly enough to meet the new state demands, said Logan.
Generation fees are paid by waste haulers based on the amount of tonnage from a district that's deposited at landfills.
Haulers typically pass the fee on to residential and business customers by raising trash collection rates.
Looking ahead: If the district decides to seek the fee increase, it will do so as part of a new solid-waste plan that will be proposed to area communities in the next two months, said Mohammad Chowdhury, waste-district director.
State law mandates that solid-waste districts update their plans every five years.
For the plan and any fee increase it proposes to take effect requires approval of county commissioners and a majority of area cities, villages and townships.
Logan said he supports an increased generation fee. He noted that the Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison district has one of the lowest generation fees in the state.
"We have a very lean solid-waste district, compared to some," Logan said.
Should communities refuse to adopt a new solid-waste plan, the state could devise one and order it imposed.