Council of governments formed for recycling; Logan planning to join

On Thursday, the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal (SORT) council of governments was formed, a group that could introduce recycling pick-up in Logan in the future.

The group met in the Athens County Board of Commissioners’ conference room, located on the second floor of the courthouse annex.

Lenny Eliason, an Athens County commissioner, was voted chair of the board, while Amesville mayor Gary Gooseman was elected vice-chair. Crissa Cummings, head of the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center (AHRC), whose recycling and trash pick-up services are being absorbed into SORT, was elected secretary/treasurer and fiscal officer of the council.

The council’s founding members are the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District and the Village of Amesville. Other municipalities looking to join in the near future include the City of Athens and the City of Nelsonville, as well as Logan.

Logan City Councilmember Judie Henniger, head of the streets and alleys committee that is bringing legislation before Logan City Council to join SORT, was present at the meeting. She said that city council expects to have first reading on the legislation at their May 28 meeting.

In addition to the streets and alleys committee, SORT also received vocal support from Mayor Greg Fraunfelter after its by-laws were changed to reflect equal voting among member cities.

Cummings called SORT’s formation an “exciting step” for the AHRC and its assets, a potential “re-visioning of the future, making it a much more stable organization.”