Solid Waste Department closes year out under budget

Lewis County Mayor Jonah Keltner recently announced that the Solid Waste Department closed out its Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget approximately $90,000 under budget.

According to Mayor Keltner, "This historic savings would not have been possible without the extensive recycling efforts put forth by the County this past year, along with the participation in recycling by so many of the businesses, organizations and residents in our community."

"One of the biggest factors in these savings was definitely the Cardboard Recycling Program that our former Solid Waste Director, Bradley Loveless, helped implement last summer among our local businesses and organizations. That program has made a positive impact of around $5,000 a month in our budget, and it continues to grow. We currently have over 70 participants, which says a lot about the recycling mentality of our community."

"Another big factor in these savings was the Community Recycling Trailer that we started bringing and leaving in the County Parking Lot every weekend, which allows our residents to bring their recyclable cardboard, plastics and aluminum to town and drop off at their convenience. Our current Solid Waste Director, Jason Drum, played a big role in getting that started, and the trailer is consistently filled with recyclables every weekend".

"I want to thank all of our county employees who are involved with the Solid Waste Department for working so hard to make this a successful budget year, and encourage everyone in our community to practice recycling, because it really does make a difference in helping to save our environment and save our county money," Mayor Keltner concluded.