More towns choose recycling option

Grand Coulee and Elmer City have both cast their vote for a recycling option, both wanting a receptacle at the Delano Transfer Station for no extra charge to the cities or the residents.

Electric City also chose that option but wanted the receptacle placed outside the Delano Transfer Station fences.

Grand Coulee and Elmer City both specified that they want it inside the fence.

Coulee Dam's town council discussed it briefly Feb. 13, with some members saying a single recycling container would get more use from their constituents if it was in Coulee Dam. That council plans to discuss the recycling proposal more.

The options are being offered by Sunrise Disposal, which currently collects trash in the four-town area and hauls it to the transfer station. Their contract is up for renewal and would begin 2020.

"I'm all for people recycling," Elmer City Mayor Jesse Tillman said at their Feb. 21 council meeting. "So having a container at the transfer station, absolutely! Do your part and recycle; if you believe in it, you should do it. I just see problems having a container in centralized locations. You get all sorts of stuff thrown in there: garbage, needles. I understand we don't have the best transfer station hours, but I would rather have it inside."

During Grand Coulee's Feb. 19 council meeting, citizen Linda Black said that her household currently collects their recyclables in the garage, taking them to a place in Spokane on occasion. She voiced her support for establishing a receptacle in Delano.

The other recycling options presented to the cities are:

• placing receptacles in each of the four towns, which would cost customers an additional $1.05 per month, or

• placing individual recycling cans at each residence for an additional $9.90 per month per customer.

The four towns need to agree on an option. However, if one town, for example, wanted to have their own receptacle in their city, the cost of that would be more than $1.05 per customer, and there could still be a receptacle at the transfer station. The individual streamline option is only available if all four towns vote for it.

Once all four towns weigh in, the topic will be brought up again at the next Regional Board of Mayors meeting in March.