A proposed countywide recycling plan is in front of Iola and Allen County leaders, and will be discussed when Iola City Council members meet next week.
The proposal, developed by the local nonprofit Allen County Recycling, has a few variables to consider in terms of location, but would essentially be a continuation of the current system manned almost exclusively by volunteers.
What’s proposed:
The new system would utilize one county and one City of Iola employee.
The county and city would each designate two days a week to collect recyclables. Iola workers would get cardboard, paper, plastics, etc. from local businesses and residents, while the county worker would go to other communities to retrieve the totes. (Humboldt volunteers also would continue their current cardboard collection practices under the direction of the Joe and Janie Works family.)
The city and county worker would then work one day a week at the recycling center, sorting and baling cardboard and plastic.
Allen County Recycling volunteers would continue their efforts by working the first Saturday of each month at the collection center to help sort and bale the recyclables as well.
THE PROPOSAL has other notes to consider:
In Iola, the city could alter its trash-collection schedule, dropping from twice-a-week residential pickup to once a week to avoid having to hire an additional employee for the recycling effort.
And if the countywide system were to continue with the existing depot at 1709 East St. in Iola, some changes would be in order.
For one, the facility — an old chicken processing plant — is the perfect size, and its location in the central part of the county, and near the edge of Iola makes it readily accessible.
But the building itself has multiple issues. It has missing glass panels in its skylight, which allows pigeons to get into the facility.
And the cement structure, which remained vacant for decades until Allen County Recycling began using it in 2022, is anything but watertight.
Also, the facility is owned by Pete’s Corp., which would likely require a new lease agreement for the governing bodies to pursue, and city or county crews would likely need to do some upkeep on the private driveway connecting the building to nearby East Street.
But that’s just one option, noted Steve Strickler, one of the Allen County Recycling founders, and who helped draft the proposal.
The city and county could easily find another facility, or perhaps even build anew.
“We just tried to keep this proposal as cheap as we could,” Strickler said.
