To the editor:
There is a lot of talk about the $24 parcel fee that the Athens and Hocking County Commissioners are considering enacting to pay for ongoing and mandated waste management programs, for which Athens County excels. I imagine most folks don’t know that we’ve had a Solid Waste District since 1988, when state law created them. Likely, many folks don’t know that we have one of the most effective recycling programs in the state run by Athens Hocking Recycling Center and its AFSCME employees.
Please encourage the commissioners of Athens and Hocking Counties to think of the fee as a necessary and valuable investment in the future of our solid waste management programs. The parcel fee is the only stable source of funds for current and future programming, the only reliable source of income to reduce the amount of trash going to landfills, as mandated by Ohio law!
The $24/year investment means keeping and growing essential programs: 22 free rural recycling drop-off centers, clean-up events, tire collection (13 semi-truckloads last year!), hard-to-recycle materials collection, funds to the health department, funds to the sheriff for enforcement, and matching funds to secure grants for education and outreach. $24/year also guarantees purchase of the Athens Hocking Recycling Center, maintaining its employees and keeping local control. We KNOW where our money is going — to support necessary and valuable services and keep these programs affordable and accessible to everyone.
If the commissioners do not pass this fee, other fees will be enacted at the landfill, paid for by haulers who will in turn raise prices for trash pickup and possibly put themselves out of business if folks shop around for cheaper rates. Everyone loses in this scenario! Creating a monopoly will mean that price controls become completely impossible. Look at the facts! This is what we have and will expand with the funds to do so. There is nothing robust or extravagant, this is about our trash! See the District’s website for a helpful factsheet about the fee and other documents about the new proposed District management plan: ahswd.org/about-us/solid-waste-plan/
I was county commissioner when the first solid waste district was formed. I witnessed the hundreds of illegal “dumps” cleaned up around the county. The county helped people understand the value of keeping our county clean and healthy. Going backwards is simply not an option. Encourage both counties’ commissioners to enact the parcel investment of $24. Write them this week! Athens Commissioners vote Tuesday July 16: Lenny Eliason, President: leliason@athensoh.org, Chris Chmiel: cchmiel@athensoh.org; Charlie Adkins: cadkins@athensoh.org, JoAnn Rockhold, Clerk: jsikorski@athensoh.org. Email Hocking Commissioners Michael Linton, Sandy Ogle, and Jason D’Onofrio: commissioners@hocking.oh.gov. (They vote on July 18.) Please share with Athens and Hocking County friends!
Roxanne Groff
Former Athens County Commissioner
Amesville, Ohio
