Sheriff, CCA compete for recycling contract

Billak said his agency has some $100,000 invested in the recycling program.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners won't make a decision on a recycling contract until Richard Billak, Community Corrections Association director, and Sheriff Randall Wellington present their proposals Thursday.
The yearly recycling contract of $154,277 expired June 30, and commissioners tabled awarding the contract to CCA, which has held the contract for at least seven years. Some of the work includes placement and removal of recycling bins, collection of roadside litter, pickup of aluminum cans collected by pupils and staff from 21 schools, and collection of household batteries from library collection points.
Commissioner John McNally IV said he looks forward to hearing the proposals from both Wellington and Billak before making a decision on the contract.
Jim Petuch, Green Team director, referred questions to George Tablack, county administrator, who could not be reached to comment.
Billak knows that ultimately the commissioners have the final decision, but he hopes they will award CCA the contract. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," he said.
Equipment
Billak said CCA clients benefit because the recycling work counts toward their community service requirements. He said the CCA has invested at least $100,000 in equipment used in the program, and the sheriff's department would have to use county general fund money for similar purchases.
Wellington has given a written proposal to commissioners and said the jail's misdemeanor inmates are already performing roadside litter collection and grass and weed cutting, and day-reporting inmates could handle the recycling tasks.
He said his department is already buying a used pickup truck from the state for such cleanup work and more similar vehicles will be acquired as needed.