“As we had the final authority on the Xenia yard waste site, we want to be responsive to citizen input,” Glaser said. “We do not wish to have the committee waste their time or upset the citizens unnecessarily.”
Greene County Commissioner Tom Koogler, who proposed privatizing yard waste collection in the county, said he had no knowledge of the resolution before the meeting.
“Alan and Bob hijacked the system,” Koogler said. “They circumvented the system. They did not let the system work. They did not let the policy committee do what they were appointed to do.”
Earlier this month, Glaser and Anderson voted for a resolution that keeps the Xenia yard waste site open indefinitley.
Koogler said that money could have been used for programs to increase curbside recycling which is decreasing.
“Whatever we do to implement this plan is going to require money,” Koogler said. “Our choices at this point are do nothing or to raise the waste generation fee. I don’t think anyone wants to do that or anybody is willing to do that. Which means we’re kind of stuck with the status quo at this point while trying to come up with some additional funding to implement these new programs.”
The resolution was passed about six months after Koogler, who is a member of the Greene County Solid Waste Management District Policy Committee, proposed closing the Xenia site to save about $200,000 in expenses, according to the November policy committee minutes.
Closing the site would save the environmental services department, which is funded through generation fees, more than $200,000 in 2015 by eliminating two equipment operators, a yard waste attendant and a yard waste facility operator positions, according to county records obtained by the Dayton Daily News. An estimated $172,600 would be saved on salaries, and an additional $31,000 would be saved on utilities, supplies and fuel and repairs for vehicles and equipment.
To prepare for the proposed site closure, the SWD had reached an informal agreement with private companies, BioSource Inc. in Xenia and Eco-Green Recycling Enterprises LLC in Fairborn, to accept yard waste at no cost. A memorandum of understanding for both companies has been drafted, but had not been signed by the committee.
In addition to responding to citizen concerns, Anderson said he voted to keep the site open because of reservations about the plan to privatize yard waste collection in the county.
“It did not appear that the efficiencies were there,” Anderson said. “It’s always a good idea to look and get things reviewed …. I think this a very smooth operation.”
The Xenia site was initially scheduled to close on March 1, however those plans were stalled after the SWD policy committee received a letter from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in February advising it to hold off on plans to close the site because it is a “key component of the approved plan under which the district currently operates.”
Diane Caughell, a 70-year-old Xenia resident and former master gardener, opposed closing the Xenia site and collected more than 1,200 signatures on a petition to keep it open.
“I am thankful that the fate of the Xenia yard waste site is finally settled,” said Caughell said. “It is a valuable asset to the county and more importantly a quality of life feature that helps keep Greene County green.”
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