Area waste district gets new offices

The agency's former offices were in the county elections building in Warren.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Back in the woods, adjacent to a few factories, are two new buildings that officials want the public to know about.
It's the location for the new offices of the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District and household hazardous waste collection site, and it would be hard to find if you weren't looking for it.
Open house
On Wednesday, officials hosted an open house and dedication to make sure the public knows right where it is: 5138 Enterprise Boulevard, about a mile off Parkman Road at the northwestern edge of Warren, just east of the state Route 5 bypass.
The architecture of the two buildings would be interesting enough -- ample views of the woods through large windows and large wooden beams supporting the roofs.
But in keeping with the recycling goals of the organization, the office employs a couple of other novel devices: flooring made from used tires, carpeting made from recycled two-liter bottles and wheat board on the walls made from the chaff part of wheat.
"This building is the personification of what waste management is all about," said Gregg Strollo of Youngstown, project architect.
Operating since 1988
The two-county organization has been operating in the county since 1988. It formerly used office space upstairs at the Trumbull County Board of Elections building on U.S. Route 422 in Warren.
The district's five employees moved into their offices in June, and waste collections began at the same time. Collection times are through for this year. They start up again next spring.
Terry Nicopolis, chairman of the district's board during its inception in 1988 through 1997, spoke of the buildings as "a dream come to fruition." He recalled how he became chairman with no background in recycling but became passionate about it over the years.
"I think by being ignorant of what happened to garbage, I had to study, to get my nose into garbage -- literally," he said.
Other speakers at the event were Trumbull County Commissioner Dan Polivka, Geauga County Commissioner Mary Samide and Robert Villers, the district's director.
Collection months
Villers said household hazardous waste collections will run for five months -- May through September -- next year instead of the three months this year.
The center maintains specific hours each week when it accepts items such as newspapers, magazines, glass bottles, steel and aluminum cans, paint, gasoline, antifreeze, driveway sealers, asbestos, pesticides, motor oil, household cleaners and car batteries. It also accepts electronics such as computers, monitors and cell phones.
It also holds scrap tire drop-off days two times per year in each county and oversees the collections at drop-off sites throughout the two-county area.
The district's funding comes from fees charged to garbage haulers and a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.