The Bethel Township Trustees of Clark County announced the date for the annual community cleanup day last week during their regular board meeting. The township cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, June 11 beginning at 8 a.m., and will allow Bethel Township (Clark County) residents to dispose of a number of unwanted items at little or no cost.

The trustees spent a good portion of their discussion of the cleanup on policing strategies, as the event was nearly botched last year due to people sneaking in throughout the night and dumping large amounts of items in the incorrect township dumpsters. Township volunteers arrived early in the morning on the day of the cleanup last year to discover people still making unauthorized dumps, and spent the better part of the morning organizing items that had been dumped into incorrect bins, as everything must be sorted properly according to the Solid Waste District’s requirements.

Last year, the township received their dumpsters the night before the event, as extra costs were associated with a Saturday morning delivery. Leaving the dumpsters unattended all night created the opportunity for such high volumes of unauthorized dumping, which the trustees addressed last Tuesday night as they discussed methods of preventing the same activity from happening again this year.

Township Administrator Ray Nelson said he is still waiting to hear back from the company that provides the dumpsters regarding a Saturday morning drop-off this year. The trustees also mulled the possibility of bringing in Bethel Township Deputy Alan Cox to police the dumpsters all night. Nelson said Cox’s overtime rate would be a total of $50 per hour after factoring in the hourly rate for the use of the cruiser, which caused the board to re-evaluate their thoughts on paying to guard the dumpsters. Trustee Nancy Brown said she would rather handle more unauthorized dumping than pay to have Cox standing guard all night, and contemplated labeling the dumpsters appropriately so that any unauthorized dumpers would perhaps deposit their trash into the correct bins.

Trustees Don Minton and Dave Phares said they didn’t think anyone dumping trash without permission would take the time to follow the labels either, and suggested cordoning off the area instead to make it inaccessible to vehicles instead. The board will await further information regarding the date of dumpster drop-off and make further decisions about policing the cleanup area before the event.

The community cleanup is conducted in order to provide township residents an outlet to dispose of items not normally collected by curbside trash collectors. Items such as mattresses, building materials, hardware, and furniture will be collected without cost, but small fees will be incurred to deposit things like tires and appliances.

Nelson said tires will be accepted at a cost of $2 per tire off the rim and $5 per tire on the rim, with a maximum number of ten tires accepted per person. Appliances containing chlorofluorocarbons, such as freezers, refrigerators, and dehumidifiers, will also be accepted for a $5 fee each so that the chemicals can be properly drained as required by federal mandates.

Televisions, batteries, computers, and other electronics will not be accepted, nor will items like pesticides, paint thinners, motor oil, and other hazardous wastes.

Residents participating in the township cleanup must show proof of residency within Bethel Township of Clark County. The cleanup will begin at 8 a.m., and although it is scheduled to run until noon, no waste will be accepted once the dumpsters are full.

The trustees officially approved the motion to conduct the township cleanup again this year, at a cost not to exceed $3,000. Township Fiscal Officer Melanie Cochran said it would be wise to budget $3,000 this year, as they spent almost that much on the dumpsters last year.

In other meeting news, the trustees hired Lieutenant Donna Clark to the Bethel Township Fire Department, with Trustee Don Minton doing the honors of swearing her in. Clark will join the department as a Firefighter and Medic Instructor.

The board also took action on the following items:

Nuisance Properties

The following addresses were declared nuisance properties:

  • 402 Glenapple
  • 1649 Styer
  • 10590 Kendig
  • 423 Sycamore
  • 430 Rosewood
  • 1917 Lincoln.

Fire

-The board moved to reimburse Maddy Stout for EMT school in the amount of $1,417.56.

-Assistant Fire Chief Jennifer Cotterman reported that as of the meeting date last Tuesday, the fire department had attended 693 calls since the beginning of the year. Also, as of the meeting date, the department had responded to 12 fire and 38 EMS runs in May alone.

Road

-The township elected to take part in ODOT’s Winter Contract for road salt for the township during the winter of 2016-2017. The agreement requests up to 400 tons of salt, and authorizes Nelson to handle the contract.

-A resolution was passed allowing the township to apply for a Community Development Block Grant in 2016.

-The trustees accepted road paving bids from the Clark County Engineer.


The trustees meet the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Bethel Township fire station on Lake Road, with the public always welcome to attend.

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