Although township officials nixed joining the NO HAZ Consortium last year, it took another look at a proposal to do just that in 2004.
Orion Township Clerk Jill Bastian, who was instrumental in organizing the township’s collecting of household hazardous waste, told trustees on Jan. 20 she wouldn’t be able to work on the project this year.
‘None of my staff will be able to work on this because of the presidential election. My staff spent lots of hours on this. It takes tons of preparation,? she said.
Oakland County Solid Waste Resource Management Division asked the township to decide on participating in the North Oakland Household Hazardous Waste Consortium no later than Jan. 31.
According to Bastian, no agreement with the township’s hazardous waste contractor, Onyx Environmental, has been finalized.
She said last year the company hauled away electronics for no extra charge and were overwhelmed with the amount collected. Bastian told trustees Onyx has indicated it will charge $57 for a vehicle without electronics and $75 with electronics.
‘They presented a program to us before. Local control was an issue. We made a decision not to go with them, but we said we would give the county a couple of years to get the program together,? trustee Mike Gingell said.
Trustee Wil Wilshire likes the program the township put on, but indicated he was interested in seeing what the county can do.
‘We can postpone (making a decision on joining) until we get (firm) pricing from Onyx. The county should be able to wait a couple of days (for our decision),? he added.
‘When we conduct our own program , we know we have a (collection) location in the township. And the ability to change things is important,? Gingell said.
Last year, the consortium collection sites were in Rochester, Waterford, Commerce and Springfield.
The township does give some financial support to the township’s hazardous household waste collection.
‘You gave us the bare minimum. If the cost goes up, we can’t afford it,? Bastian said. The cost per vehicle was $54 last year.
As of now, the consortium does not collect any electronics equipment.
‘We can be proud of what we’ve done here. Everyone did a wonderful job at the township’s household waste collection day. How about passing the torch over to the treasurer’s office for one single time?? Jim Marleau, township treasurer, asked. We’ll work with the committee.?
Trustees agreed to Marleau’s suggestion, but indicated the county should be notified that the township could change its mind in the future.
Over 94,000 pounds of household hazardous waste was collected by the NO HAZ consortium in 2003.
Communities that participate include Addison, Brandon, Commerce, Groveland, Lake Angelus, Leonard, Oxford Township, Oxford Village, Ortonville, Pontiac, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Rose, Springfield, Sylvan Lake, Waterford, White Lake and Wolverine Lake.