MARSHALL (KMHL) – More than 100 people turned out to a public hearing last night held by Lyon County Commissioners on the future of the county’s curbside recycling program.
Commissioner Charlie Sanow told the crowd they never intended to permanently cancel curbside service in the county, but he says the timeline was tough after the current hauler exercised a 90-day opt out in the contract with the county. The contract was supposed to go until the end of 2020.
“When we went out for the RFP’s we were looking for once a week curbside or every other week pickup,” said Lyon County Commissioner Rick Anderson. “Either we do it in all of the cities we have currently or we were looking at some different options in some of the smaller communities.”
But that didn’t stop those in attendance from letting commissioners know they are in support of the service continuing. Many expressed concerns about the drop-off points and expressed support for increased fees associated with continued service.
Ghent resident Mark Bosveld said he wasn’t concerned about the board’s long-term commitment to curbside recycling.
“It was the way the process was handled,” said Bosveld. “You learn things in business and life, it’s beware of the temporary measure, any temporary measure has the strong possibility of becoming the realty full-time, that’s what my concern was.”
Bosveld spoke to the board about his concerns regarding the drop sites. He said the roll-off containers bring with them rodents, pests and a mess and asked board members who would want that located near their home?
Anderson notes that Lyon County isn’t alone in dealing with the issue. He notes that several other counties are struggling with it now – because the market for recyclable products has completely fallen a part, and he’s not sure when things will start looking better for it either.
“We don’t look for this market to change for another three years possibly,” said Anderson. “So here you sit with all of these recyclables stockpiled in somebodies warehouse. Heaven forbid if some of that just goes back into a landfill somewhere other than Lyon County, we don’t know that either.”
Commissioners did not decide anything at the public hearing last night – the issue is back on the county board’s agenda at today’s meeting.