WASHINGTON

In his report Tuesday to the Washington County Supervisors, Lynn Whaley of WEMIGA, the county’s contracted waste management service, said recycling is up with 63.78 tons (up from 60.31 last year) in September, aiding the county goal to reduce items going into the landfill. He also noted that demand for cardboard went up slightly.

He also asked for and received approval for distribution of a handout for county residents about usage of the waste/recycling facility which serves rural Washington County residents. The facility does accept bulk items, such as appliances and televisions, but there is an additional charge for that service. It also has a special dumpster for handling ashes.

“This is just to clarify the rules,” he explained, noting that urban residents have regular services provided by their cities. There also have been some instances of non-county residents coming to the facility, including one whose truck clearly identified it as a commercial waste service. Whaley said it means having to “keep an eye out” and regularly monitor usage.

The information handout, he stressed, is simply to provide and clarify the existing rules made by the board; there are no policy changes.

In its second agenda business, the board approved three ordinances related to county road construction, specifically:

•A permanent road easement from Matthew A Leeper and Mark R. Leeper, managers of L&L Acres, LLC, for three-hundreds of an acre at the McKain’s Landing highway project in Clay Township, at a cost of $293.80.

•A permanent highway easement from Keith F. Bloomer, Jr., Joseph H. Bloomer, John Bloomer, and Diane Bloomer for a right of way on 190th Street in Highland Township at a cost of $2,321.76.

•An updating of the county’s fence payment policy for damages involving fences on property acquired by easement for public highways. County Engineer Jacob Thorius stressed, “It is for replacing a fence with the same value of the existing fence, not a new fence,” with payment made after installation of the fence following completion of the road construction. It also specifies that no payment will be made for a fence where there is no existing fence. The owner will receive $10 per rod for fence removal (previous fee was $5 per rod). Other payment increases are woven wire, $84/rod; 14-brace, $180 each; barbed wire, minimum of four strands of barbed wire, $54.50/rod; H-brace, $180 each; Hi-tensile, minimum of seven strands of wore, $60/rod; double end brace, $300 each. Payment will be made after installation of the fence, which must be built within two years of the completion of the roadway construction to be eligible for payment. The increases became effective with passage of the resolution Tuesday.

During the supervisors comments at the end of the session, Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. reported that replacement of the communications tower (which was used by the county as part of its emergency services) by its owner, Wellman Telephone Company, is continuing, but a major consideration “will be what kind of offer Wellman Telephone makes to the county.” He added that at present “we don’t know what will happen. We just have to wait and see.” It has been approximately six months since the tower was heavily damaged in a tornado. Both the telephone company and the country previously agreed replacement/repair was important to emergency services for the county.

Following adjournment of the regular session, the board returned for a work session at 10 a.m. to discuss the telephone project for the courthouse.