BOTKINS — The Botkins Village Council met briefly Tuesday night for a regular council meeting.
The council voted to change their trash system from bags to tags. Residents will now purchase their own trash bags and tag them with the appropriate tag. The tags will be available for purchase in the same places the bags were.
Village Administrator Ryan Piche said the tag system will help the trash collecting company, Republic, out because they often have issues with the suppliers of the bags. They can print the tags in-house which makes the process go more smoothly.
The council also discussed implementing large recycling bins for all it’s households. Having the bins would add $2.10 to everyone’s utility bills each month. So the people who already recycle would pay less and the people who don’t would have step up and pay that standard fee. Council was apprehensive about making this a standard thing because of the annoyance of the large bins and the cost to people who may not want to participate.
The only way they can keep the cost that low is if they opt in the entire village. The council decided to ask Republic if people could opt into this program instead of having it as a blanket cost to the entire village, even if it would increase the cost from $2.10.
Council Member Lance Symonds reported for the Fire and Safety Committee. Last year the Botkins Fire Department went on 87 runs. The fire department is also working on applying for a grant to get funds to help with the purchase of new equipment.
Piche reported that he is working with Agrana Fruit to figure out their water softening situation. He mentioned that the Agrana plant in Botkins is actually the largest fruit manufacturing plant in the world.
The village offices are getting new flooring. It’s going to cost $2,900 for the supplies and they are going to install it themselves.
There will be a joint meeting between the Botkins Village Council and the Botkins Local School Board of Education on March 14 before the regularly scheduled board of education meeting.
