BISBEE — “I refuse to buy bottled beer, since we can’t recycle glass.”
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The discussion hit on one of the major problems in recycling — glass. Even if there were a way to crush and grind all the beer bottles and glass containers back to sand, there appears to be no market, even though it can be used in asphalt production for roadways, Pauken added.
While that material may be a headache for county and municipal recycling efforts, there seem to be no problems with newspaper, cardboard, plastics and metal. In fact, Marty Haverty, county solid waste director, said the ongoing effort in the county has produced $40,000 in six weeks.
While it’s not chump change, it is less than the hoped-for $72,000 monthly revenue stream, added Steve Jones, county solid waste accountant.
But Haverty has not wanted to draw a lot of public participation, since a countywide recycling operation would produce far more material than his staff can han-dle now. The rural transfer stations were outfitted with bins to accept recyclables and balers to mash it together for transport. Some of the rural stations provide more recyclable materials than most municipal efforts.
Now, with lease negotiations dead on the Huachuca City material recycling facility, an alternate site to sort recyclables has been established temporarily at the Sierra Vista transfer station, Haverty said. There is some equipment there to bale and move materials, but the process is slow and requires many staffing hours provided by inmates.
Huachuca City did offer to sell the county the equipment at its recycling center, but that could cause more headaches. First, the equipment hasn’t been used in years and, second, it would have to be dismantled, removed and then rebuilt just to see if it works said Mike Ortega, county administrator.
Most of the equipment is too large for the county’s available space, but a baler and a couple of short conveyors could be used by the county at the Sierra Vista site, Haverty said.
Since money for possible rental of the Huachuca City site was budgeted last year, Haverty’s department has $50,000 to use in other ways on the recycling program. He plans to look into used machinery to boost production. Crews are producing about 30 tons of recyclables each week. With additional equipment, that output could be increased.
Haverty plans to keep sorting materials there for a few years, until the county can build up some capital to construct a recycling facility on a county site, probably at the landfill.
“Right now, it’s hard to gauge what our flow will be,” Haverty said. “We need to run it for a year and figure out our operation costs and revenues.”
‘Society wants it’
Members of the Rate Review Advisory Board from Willcox were more interested in keeping trash-dumping charges from skyrocketing as commodities are removed from the waste stream.
“I thought one of the goals was to keep our costs down at the landfill by reducing the amount going in,” said Pat McCourt, Willcox city manager. “It’s also a political issue. Recycling is hard to make work economically, but society wants it.”
County Supervisor Ann English is ready to get the word out that the county is recycling. She plans to take the program to the county fair in September.
“I was disappointed in the time we wasted negotiating with Huachuca City,” Supervisor Pat Call said. “I’m ready to jump in and get this going.”
ONLINE - For more information on the county recycling program, visit the county’s Web site at http://cochise.az.gov/Default.aspx?id=4584 or call the county’s solid waste department at (520) 803-3770.
In other action
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors held a regular meeting Tuesday and took several actions. Here’s a look at those actions:
• Airport work to take off-Supervisors approved new work at Bisbee-Douglas International Airport that will be funded through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division.
As the design phase for reconstruction of a light aircraft apron was under way, the main access apron adjacent to the airport terminal was determined to be hazardous to taxiing aircraft and in need of repair. Since this project is in addition to apron and runway work already approved, the existing $693,852 grant will not cover costs, said Patty Lewis, grant coordinator. The FAA has approved the additional work and has suggested the county apply for more grant funds to complete the rehabilitation project. The county and state will each pick up 2.5 percent of the project costs.
• Culvert design contract approved - A contract between the county and Stantec Consulting Inc. was approved for design engineering services for the installation of drain culverts at two locations on Davis Road — milepost 5.16 and milepost 13.10. During the monsoon, the road is frequently closed due to sheet flow flooding conditions, noted Patricia Morris of the highway and floodplain department. She told the supervisors that a third location at milepost 9.91 also was being considered, but the $2.6 million in federal grant money would not cover the costs, even with the addition of a second $1 million grant through Southeast Arizona Governments Organization. The cost to design and install culverts at milepost 5.16 is estimated at $2.5 million. The second drainage system at milepost 13.10 is set at $1.8 million.
Supervisors also ...
• Approved the over-the-counter bids for 33 parcels totaling $19,901.
• Agreed to forward a recommendation of OK to the state for a Series #13 Domestic Farm Winery liquor license in Cochise as submitted by James Graham for Golden Rule Vineyards of Cochise Groves Investments LLC.
• Appointed retired Judge James Riley as the board of equalization hearing officer.
• Appointed Jason Bowling to the local Workforce Investment Board to replace Kirby Chapman.
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