Pike recycling needs growing

By DAVID HULSE

MILFORD, PA — Pennsylvania’s fastest growing county is going to require growth in its means of dealing with recycling, Pike officials agreed last week.

Collections at Pike County’s nine recycling drop-off areas rose from 225 to 300 tons last year, according to county Director of Human Development and Recycling Christine Obser.

Obser reported the statistics as the county commissioners authorized participation in a $212,000 state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant program. The county matches 10 percent toward $193,000 in DEP funding to maintain existing drop-off centers, purchase 12 new containers and one new service/collection vehicle for the program.

In addition, the commissioners also authorized application for a $6,000 technical assistance grant to begin planning for a “consolidation center” for transshipping of recycled materials. The consolidation center is needed to reduce the time and travel expenses that county trucks now devote to moving material to recycling centers in Monroe and Lackawanna counties.

Obser said the county is also applying for a $1.2 million DEP grant to fund the center. That amount, she said, is a ballpark figure which would be refined in the next year as specific planning is done.

Obser said the grants are prioritized to state “mandated communities.” This year there were 42 such communities and as it is not yet on the mandated list, funding for Pike will require an additional year.

Commissioner Richard Caridi saw the wait as advantageous, as Pike is not yet ready to build a center now. “With the increased tonnage, we’ve decided to move forward. This gives us a year to prepare,” he said.

Pike is also considering upgrades to existing drop-off areas and the addition of new ones, but Obser said no decisions have yet been made about those changes.

With the exceptions of drop-offs at Dutch’s Market on Route 507, the Mid-Town Convenience Store in Shohola and the Pocono Environmental Center on Route 209, county drop-off areas are located at township/highway buildings in Milford, Delaware, Dingman, Lackawaxen, Lehman and Palmyra townships.

In other business last week, the commissioners finalized a $178,000 contract with Valley Painting for the painting of the 750,000-gallon water storage tank at the county prison. The new tank color will be pale blue and white.

The commissioners had re-bid the project after deciding that the tank did not need removal of its old primer coat. Initial bids for the project ranged between $279,000 and $800,000.

The commissioners also approved a resolution calling for a state reassessment of the formula used to apportion state school aid, mental health and retardation funding. “Our schools have been shortchanged. For 16 to 18 years, we have not gotten fair aid increases despite our increased number of students,” Caridi said. The resolution calls on the state to apportion aid according to the most recent census data.