It's official — trash prices going up

NORWALK — Huron County Commissioners Thursday morning made it official — the rates at the landfill's transfer station are going up. Commissioners first talked about raising landfill rates from $58 a ton to $64 a ton, but now commissioners have officially raised rates to $65 a ton because of inflation and increased costs to the county. Rumpke of Ohio, which hauls the county's trash to Richland County, is raising the rate it charges Huron County by $2.25 per ton. Commissioners voted all in favor on the increases at their meeting on Thursday morning. "We're not making money on this," Commissioner Harry Brady said. "The intention is just to cover our costs." Commissioners by law held three public hearings about the rate increase but only one person showed up in opposition. One factor that could additionally impact rates over the next year is the final outcome of a legal dispute over a contract between Erie and Huron counties. Under the contract between the two counties, Erie County was to haul trash from the transfer station in Huron County to Erie County's landfill. Erie County used a subcontractor to haul the trash. Huron County, however, pulled out of the agreement early, citing complaints with Erie County's trash-hauling subcontractor, and went with a different provider to haul the county's trash. That prompted Erie County to sue in 2018; Huron County then filed a counter-suit. In other business, commissioners held a public hearing on potential Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program opportunities. Tiffany Shaver, Planning & Development Coordinator for Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, told commissioners about grant money that is available to the state of Ohio and for Huron County and other jurisdictions within the county. The state of Ohio has been allocated $45.2 million in CDBG funds, $26.8 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Program, $6.1 million in Emergency Solutions grants, and $2.6 million in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program, she said. Huron County intends to partner with the city of Norwalk and the city of Willard to apply for up to $1.1 million in Community Housing Impact & Preservation (CHIP) funds, Shaver said. That money is supposed to be used to improve housing for low- and moderate-income Ohioans and strengthen neighborhoods through community collaborations. The county is also eligible to apply for up to $500,000 for critical infrastructure, she said. And, commisssioners made it official: they are going to allow the Huron County Airport board to seek bids for their runway improvement project. That project involves sealing cracks and new pavement markings. Commissioners on Tuesday heard about the project, which is estimated to cost around $150,000. That project is being paid 90% by a Federal Aviation Administration grant, 5% by the state, and 5% by the airport board. Finally, commissioners met with the Huron County Fair Board to discuss progress and funding of the proposed new barn at the Huron County Fairgrounds. Fair board members initially were going to construct a bare-bones building at the fairgrounds, but that project has grown to a $2.4 million project with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding and the hopes are that the building will become something that can be used 365 days a year. Commissioners Thursday morning wanted to make sure fair board members understood all of the requirements that came with ARPA funding and reporting. ARPA allotted $3.6 billion in flexible state fiscal recovery funds for Ohio to recover, repay, restore and rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic. ARPA is a federal law that was passed in March 2021 to provide direct relief to Americans, contain the COVID-19 virus, and rescue the economy.