EATON — Sanitary Engineer Robert Kohnen and Sanitary Facilities Manager David Wilson presented the monthly Landfill, Recycling, and Sewer District report during the Preble County Commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
Kohnen began the meeting by reporting on the sewer districts. He noted, they received the test results for Sewer District Two, showing standard results. They did have to bypass the sand filters, because they froze. A form was filed with the EPA to bypass those filters and now they are back to normal.
For Sewer District Three, ammonia samples were high, but overall, the results were within specs. Kohnen is working with ReCap for Sewer District Six. He sent out a second set of surveys, because he had a number come back due to bad addresses. Some of those completed surveys are coming back and next week he plans to conduct door-to-door surveys.
For the Solid Waste District, Kohnen informed commissioners they had approved the GT contract during their agenda. They approved an agreement for the Solid Waste District Plan Update and 2017 ADR Agreement with GT Environmental, Inc. for $13,150.
Ten Eaton High School students have received awards for the annual t-shirt contest. Students have completed their Earth Day Poster projects and the winning design will be included onto the Earth Day t-shirts. Earth Day is May 3 this year.
“The new revised solid waste plan is tentatively scheduled for a public comment period from March 2-31,” Kohnen said. “We are scheduled to have the presentation and public hearing on April 9. The reason that is tentative is because there has been a question raised about the schedule that was originally public noticed about. I’ve asked for clarification.
“What happened was, from what I see, the solid waste policy committee approved a schedule of fees and it was broken out like this. That was approved by the Solid Waste Committee, so everything was per requirements. Two tables got condensed somehow and in one it is broken out that there is a $2 out of county fee, the other does not break down what the components are.
“In the public notice we have to state if there are changes in the fees. Technically there aren’t changes, but it is unclear as to how these build into these fees.”
Administrative Assistant Kim Keller said, “They were looking for a resolution where you approved the $2 on out of county trash. I told them that there wasn’t a resolution. We just have a fee that we charge, not broken down. On top of that, the solid waste policy board has to approve the fee. They’re supposed to send it out and get it ratified and approved, but that wasn’t done either. They said they were okay with it, but it wasn’t advertised as that. They didn’t follow through.”
The out of county fee is the only issue they are confused on. There are notices and public hearings that go along with that specific fee. They will be seeking clarification on the issue, to see what actions are needed.
The Preble County Commissioners meet every Monday and Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Commission Chambers at 9 a.m., unless stated otherwise.
