Mark Webber | The Republic Hope’s recycling container will be removed after town officials said it was too expensive to keep it.
HOPE – Despite a cost that a number of officials describe as unsustainable, Hope will continue to offer recycling services through the rest of the year.
During a special meeting, the five-member town council voted unanimously Wednesday to pay up to $24,000 from their Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds to keep the recycling container at its current location on Maple Street, just south of Mill Street.
When the community of 2,100 residents first placed the Best Way Disposal container in the parking lot of the utility office in May 2019, the town was only paying the company $5,530 a year, town manager Jason Eckart told the council.
The following year, the price jumped to $12,640, Eckart said. It then increased to $18,525 in 2021 before rising to $24,214 last year, he said.
“Right now, we’re on the hook for $2,000 a month,” town council president Ohmer Miller said.
In February, most town council members said they felt they had no choice but to remove the recycling bin due to the skyrocketing cost. But a majority agreed to a request from Miller to keep the container a few more months while Eckart sought out more affordable options.
In April, Eckart told board members he was unable to find a company with lower rates than Best Way. But council members are now reluctant to terminate the service.
“It’s taken five years to get Hope residents recycling to the point where the dumpster has to be emptied four times a month,” the town manager said last month. “I’d hate to step back and get rid of it now.”
During this week’s meeting, Eckart said he learned about a community recycling grant program offered through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. If Hope is approved for the program, IDEM will pay 75% of the recycling program’s cost while the town will provide 25% in matching funds, Eckart said.
“It will cost the town $5,000 to $6,000 per year,” Eckart said. “That’s a lot less than we are paying now.”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
