ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — The Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District has found its second core member to officially form a council of governments for solid waste services.
Last week, on March 13, Amesville Village Council read and unanimously passed a resolution on second reading to formally join the Southeast Ohio Area Resources Council of Governments.
Two members were absent, so lack of quorum prevented the council from declaring an emergency and enacting the ordinance.
However, Mayor Gary Goosman noted that the council could call a special meeting to expedite the process. The council’s next regular meeting isn’t until April 10. He will also review joining the COG with the village solicitor a final time.
The resolution’s first reading also passed unanimously last month, Goosman told the Independent last week.
“Sixty-percent of Amesville residents have Athens-Hocking as their service,” Goosman told the Independent on Monday. “They’re happy with the service and its local employees. They want to keep that business local.”
Goosman noted that the village doesn’t have a franchise district — which means that Amesville customers choose their trash haulers. Franchise districts traditionally mean a municipality contracts with one provider for a designated area.
“Residents don’t have to go with Athens-Hocking, we have three vendors,” he said Monday. “From the village perspective, I’d rather have one than have three on different days driving around the village in the early morning hours, but we don’t have a franchise.”
The solid waste district began forming the COG in January in a bid to save the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center’s assets, operations and locally controlled recycling infrastructure.
