MOUNT VERNON — Knox County residents will soon have the opportunity to take their recycling efforts up a notch.

According to Matt Baugher, program manager for Knox County Recycling and Litter Prevention, Rumpke Recycling will participate in Hefty’s ReNew orange bag program starting later this year.

The orange bag program is a way to collect hard-to-recycle plastics such as food takeout containers, candy wrappers, and the black food trays from frozen meals. Other hard-to-recycle plastics include cheese stick packages, salad bags, foam egg cartons, and plastic eating utensils.

Residents place these items in the orange bags, and Rumpke will pick up the bags through its curbside program and at the recycling bins located throughout the county. The bags are then sent on to an end user for recycling.

“This is great what Hefty is doing. This is what I have been begging for for years,” Baugher told the county commissioners. “If you are producing something, you are responsible post consumer. I’m excited to roll this out.”

Since its inception in 2016 through August 2022, the program has diverted more than 2,000 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills.

The program is available in Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, and Tennessee and will soon come to northern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Plans call for it to be rolled out in central Ohio later this year.

In other recycling news, Baugher said Accurate IT Services picked up a backlog of electronic equipment for processing. Items included 193 pounds of LCD monitors, 768 pounds of alkaline batteries, and 585 pounds of miscellaneous electronics.

Miscellaneous items include lights from the holiday string lights recycling campaign last December.

The 2023 spring cleanup yielded around 300 bags of litter, some of which was diverted to recycling. A newly formed group, Friends of the Kokosing, participated in cleanup events as did 4-H, Scout, and church groups.

Youth education events Baugher attended include Pheasants Forever Youth Day and a community event at the Brown Family environmental Center.

Road projects

The commissioners held a bid opening for the Danville Amity Road improvement project on May 23. Although six companies requested bid packets, no company submitted a bid.

Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said the project will probably get pushed to next year. Commissioner Thom Collier said “the likelihood is if we rebid, it will probably go up in price.”

The commissioners also approved an agreement between the Knox County engineer and MS Consultants for inspections on the project as well as on the Coffing Road bridge project.

The commissioners held a bid opening on May 30 for the Krause Road bridge project. Three companies submitted bids: V.O. Menuez & Son, $798,975; George J. Igel & Co., $911,002; and McConnell Construction, $863,150. Engineer’s estimate is $1.137 million.

Legislative action

The commissioners took the following actions between May 23 and May 30:

•Set public hearing #2 on Thursday, June 8, at 10 am for PY 2023 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Critical Infrastructure Grant Application for the Village of Martinsburg.

•Established the assessment fee for Ford Creek Ditch in Hilliar and Milford townships for the year 2024 at $2,340.20 total with various amounts collected for each parcel, total 122 parcels. The cap is $4,680. This is the same amount as last year.

•Established the assessment fee for Ralphie’s Ditch in Hilliar Township for the year 2024 at $1,440.24 with various amounts collected for each parcel, total 50 parcels. The cap is $3,600. This is the same amount as last year.

•Established the assessment fee for 10 parcels in the Sycamore Meadows Subdivision in Hilliar Township for the year 2024 at $0. The cap is $3,000. This is the same amount as last year.

•Established the assessment fee for the 14 parcels in Kokosing Plantation Subdivision in Pleasant Township for the year 2024 at $100. The cap is $4,500. This is the same amount as last year.

•Approved Bare Foot Floors’ bid of $184,917 for the Knox County Department of Job and Family Services flooring project

•Approved request for amendment from DLZ Ohio for engineering services for the Beckley Road bridge replacement project for an additional fee of $1,250

•Authorized County Administrator Jason Booth to sign for the purchase of a 2023 Ford F150 Super Cab from Donley Ford of Mount Vernon for the Knox County Dog Shelter

•Approved purchase of a used 2014 Ford F150 2WD regular cab truck from 56 Auto Sales of London for the Knox County engineer’s office in the amount of $13,785 (Stock #17420).

•Approved purchase of a used 2014 Ford F150 2WD regular cab truck from 56 Auto Sales of London for the Knox County engineer’s office in the amount of $13,785 (Stock #17421)

•Approved contractor agreement between Knox County Department of Job and Family Services and Elizabeth Dyke for Summer Youth Job Coach activities