SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The director of the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District paid a visit to the Hocking County commissioners during their weekly meeting last Thursday, to deliver what she called some good news.
“We’re ready to move forward with renovation of the Sutton Road Recycling Center,” reported Jane Forrest Redfern. “We’ve secured funding to pay for the pickup of our recycling for the first three months of the year, so that affords our general fund the funds to be able to move to our capital fund to do the renovations.”
The Sutton Road facility, located in Logan, got an upgrade unveiled in 2023, expanding the kinds of recyclable items it could accept. Prior to the change, the center had been available 24-7 for drop-offs of household recycling such as plastic, glass, metal, paper, cardboard. It now can collect many other types of recyclables by appointment, including appliances, electronics, medical equipment, building materials, clothing, cell phones, scrap metal, household goods, furniture, books and batteries.
The pending renovation, according to Forrest Redfern, will make changes to allow the center to operate more efficiently, and also add a restroom, water and sewer hookup, heating and air conditioning, none of which the site has currently.
Forrest Redfern provided details on improvements that will be made to the small building that is on the left as you enter the site.
That building will get a door and a garage door, she said, allowing equipment such as a forklift to be brought into it, and will have an area that “will serve as kind of an intake for the recycling center.” She said the building will also contain an area “that we can hold meetings in, or just put gaylords (pallet boxes) in it , and be able to sort stuff as it comes in, and then move that stuff over to the bigger building as we build it.”
Another addition will be a restroom, which will have a keyed door so that personnel from the county sheriff’s office and sewer department will be able to access it.
The interior, she said, “will have an industrial look to it. All of the finishes will be made of as much recycled material as possible,” including sheet metal walls. The building will have electric heating and cooling.
Forrest Redfern described the design for the facility as being “as simple as we can get. But we also want it to be so that we can change its use over time. If in the future, we have to make this the district office it will be wired to do that in the future.”
Access to Logan city water is “literally right there” on site, she said, but a sewer hookup will require running an 80-foot line under Sutton Road. Some grounds work will also be needed to level the site to address drainage problems.
Noting that the county owns the site and leases it to the solid waste district, Forrest Redfern told the commissioners that “I wanted to come to all of you first, because you own the building, and I feel like I need your approval prior to bringing it to the full (waste district) board on Monday.”
She also assured the commissioners that the cost of the planned renovations is covered from the district’s budget, so “it won’t cost you guys anything.” The district will also be responsible for maintenance at the site, she said.
The commissioners indicated their support for the project, approving a resolution to that effect after making some minor amendments.
Courtesy: www.logandaily.com
