MOUNT VERNON—Matt Baugher was in good spirits as he headed home after Thursday’s meeting between city officials and trash haulers.
Baugher directs the county’s Recycling and Litter Prevention program, and he’s passionate about his job.
“It is very important that if we call something recycling, it is being recycled,” he told the group.
Baugher said that overall, it was a “net positive meeting.”
“After a myriad of businesses ending and new ones forming, it became important to revisit our city protocol and re-establish the rules and regulations for recycling,” he explained.
“My number one goal is regaining the public’s trust in our local recycling systems.”
Baugher said the next move is compiling the updated information the haulers provided at the meeting.
“We are heavily interested in a unified site long-term. Mayor [Matt] Starr and I will be working with the city to explore what a drop-off for haulers only would look like,” Baugher said.
City ordinance for trash haulers
Chapter 755 of the city’s ordinance requires haulers to follow specific requirements:
•Offer free curbside recycling in addition to trash pick-up to single-family homes, buildings with four units or less, and all homeowners associations
•Obtain a city permit
•File a semi-annual report showing the tonnage of solid waste and recyclables picked up in the city
•Annual inspection by the Mount Vernon Police Department of each truck ($25 fee) and conspicuously display inspection decal
•Prominently display the name of the company on the side of the truck in at least 4-inch letters
•File and update price information with the mayor’s office
Baugher previously voiced concerns about the trash haulers’ lack of compliance and the city’s lack of enforcement.
MVPD Chief Robert Morgan said the city has not diligently inspected the trucks.
“And quite frankly, sometimes we have had not great compliance with people who want to do business in the city,” he told the haulers.
Although the ordinance mandates a decal, Morgan does not recall the MVPD issuing citations.
“But we’re getting pressure from our citizens, and it is the law,” he said.
City officials want to eliminate city inspections because haulers already undergo state inspections.
City Councilman John Ruckman chairs the city’s Utilities Committee and will spearhead the ordinance’s rewrite. Starr said the city will seek input from the trash haulers.
The goal is to rewrite the ordinance by the end of the year.
Alternative transfer station
Jenna Hicks, director of the Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow Solid Waste District, said recycling has been a struggle since Rumpke closed its recycling facility on Columbus Road in 2016.
“We had a lot of residents using that facility, even though they had curbside recycling. So, as the DKMM District, we tried to put drop-off containers near the city to accommodate that.
“We did an okay job with that, I would say,” she added.
Republic Services transfer station on Tilden Avenue accepts residents’ waste but not haulers’. Hicks said she has received resident complaints about the high cost.
Hicks said Mid-Ohio Sanitation in Mount Gilead has agreed to take material from small haulers for a cost:
•Trash: $80 per ton, minimum $40, for up to 1,000 pounds
•Recycling: $150 per ton, minimum $80, for up to 1,000 pounds
DKMM funds a grant for the Delaware transfer station, a bit further away. However, the station accepts recycling.
Acknowledging that everything has become more expensive, Baugher encouraged the trash haulers to accurately factor in those costs when determining pricing instead of doing it wrong and undercutting competitors.
“Everyone’s rates should be competitive, but my goal is you guys should ask what you need to get paid to do the right thing,” he told the haulers.
“As far as we’re concerned, this is a utility, and it needs to be done right.”
United local drop-off for trash haulers
Baugher and Starr discussed a unified site with a large recycling container where small haulers could drop off waste.
A larger recycling company would then empty the container.
Starr said he will work on finding a gated, monitored location accessible only to haulers.
Additionally, he said the haulers would have to pay something to maintain the road to the site.
“I want to make sure that we can arrange for perpetual care and not have it subsidized by the citizens,” Starr said. “But again, … this is just something to consider in the future.”
Five of the six trash haulers present agreed with the option.
Starr said a unified site would reduce haulers’ costs, residents’ costs, and per capita waste.
Single-hauler system
Baugher said the city is tentatively looking at a single-hauler system. He noted it would be long-term, probably not until after 2025.
“Obviously, everyone would have a fair shot at who can provide the best service for trash and recycling for the lowest cost,” he said. “This is something I want to look into for Gambier, for Fredericktown, for Apple Valley, too.”
DKMM’s Hicks said a single-hauler system works well in Delaware County, even in small villages.
She said five haulers work countywide.
“There are some smaller guys that are getting some of those contracts, too,” she said.
“There’s no secret plan in the works,” Starr said. “Anything that would be moving forward would require robust discussion and input.”
Baugher acknowledges that residents frequently say a single-hauler system restricts their choice. However, he said that when you consider the townships and outlying communities, there is enough business to go around.
