MEDINA – County commissioners approved a new contract with Rumpke of Ohio for trash disposal services over the objections of Commissioner Pat Geissman and Kimble Waste Services, a Rumpke competitor.

Commissioners voted 2-1 Dec. 6 to award the contract to Rumpke with Geissman casting the dissenting vote. Geissman argued against extending current operations at the county’s Central Processing Facility, but was overruled by Commissioners Adam Friedrick and Tim Smith, who voted to accept the new contract.

Kimble Representative Don Johnson also argued his company’s bid could cost the county less than Rumpke’s if the volume of presorted recyclables hauled to the county’s Central Processing Facility increased significantly as he predicts it will.

Kimble has had the contract to transfer, transport and dispose of waste hauled to the CPF for the last two years. Both Rumpke and Kimble submitted bids that were lower than Kimble’s current costs to dispose of trash at the CPF. However, Rumpke spokesman Bob Havenga said his company’s base bid of $25.50 per ton for trash disposal would cost haulers about $300,000 less per year than Kimble’s.

Rumpke was also awarded contract options which provide for handling pre-sorted recyclable material hauled to the CPF at a cost of about $75 per ton.

Curtis Perkins, who operates C. Martin Trucking, said the option to haul recyclables to the CPF would allow him and other smaller trash haulers to begin offering customers curbside recycling programs next year. Kimble and Republic Waste Services are already offering curbside recycling programs to some of their customers around the county.

Geissman wants more convenient recycling to be available to all county residents and believes the best way to do that is to have it take place at the CPF as it did before expensive trash sorting operations at the facility were halted two years ago.

“People tell me constantly that they don’t want to separate recyclables in their trash and want it done like we used to at the CPF,” Geissman said. “They also never complained about the cost, so that shouldn’t be the determining factor.”

Friedrick argued the contract to haul waste to a landfill was necessary even if trash sorting operations were resumed at the CPF and plastic, paper and aluminum was removed from the rest of the trash.

Change order

County commissioners approved a change in a contract with Melway Paving Company that cut $81,000 from the cost of paving various roads around the county this year. The reduction in cost was the result of fewer materials being used in the repaving work than was originally estimated. The final contract cost for the repaving was $863,000.

EMA lease

Commissioners approved a lease agreement with the Medina County Emergency Management Agency which allows EMA to store its mobile command unit in a heated garage owned by the county at 791 West Smith Road. EMA will pay the county $2,500 per year for use of the storage space.

County Home services

Commissioners approved contracts for the provision of medical and beautician services to residents of the Medina County Home.

Dr. A.V. Khandelwal has agreed to provide some medical services to Home residents for a fee of $709 per month. Trisha Norton agreed to continue to provide beautician services at the Home for a fee of $315 per month.

Soprema Café

Commissioners approved an agreement between the Medina County Office for Older Adults and Soprema Senior Center Café in Wadsworth to provide free meals to eligible older adults. The agreement calls for the restaurant to provide meals in exchange for vouchers it redeems with the Office for Older Adults for $5.85.

Appointed

County commissioners appointed Richard Sisko to a four-year term on the Medina County Port Authority.

County Commissioner Friedrick was appointed to a one-year term on the Summit and Medina Workforce Area Council of Governments.

Lynda Bowers, Joseph McNeil and Stacey Tramonte were appointed to the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council and Enterprise Zone Tax Incentive Review Councils.