Solid Waste District approves 2026 contracts and $4.8 million budget

The Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District Board of Directors met Nov. 7 and authorized Executive Director David Held to enter into agreements with the Tuscarawas and Wayne County health departments to provide support at Household Hazardous Waste Collection events. The rate is $2,500 per event, and the agreements will automatically renew each year.

The board also approved an agreement with ERG Environmental Services of Bowling Green, the lowest and best proposal, for the acceptance of household hazardous waste at a cost not to exceed $175,000. The agreement will run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026.

In other business, the district announced plans to transition and discontinue non-required school collection of recyclables. Tuscarawas County schools will be redirected to the private sector following the retirement of Rick Norman, who has collected recyclables in the area for 43 years. The transition will be completed by Dec. 31, 2025.

Recycling bins at the Akron-Canton Airport (four bins) will be transitioned Nov. 26. Stark County schools (100 bins) will shift to private recycling services by March 31, 2026, and Wayne County schools may contract directly with Sanmandy Enterprise, to be completed by June 30, 2026.

The board also:

— Learned that the Ohio History Commission no longer requires submission of a Records Commission-3 (RC-3) review of landfill and solid waste facility annual reports. A certificate of records disposal will still be required internally, and the commission must meet at least once every 12 months.

— Approved 2026 appropriations totaling $4.8 million across all funds.

— Agreed to sponsor, at no cost to the district, a 2026 Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Market Development grant for Cobra Roll-Off Service of Canton in the amount of $197,625, which requires a 100% match. The project will recycle wood waste by processing it in an air curtain burner to produce biochar and create a biochar-soil blend. Grant funds will be used to purchase cross-belt magnets, radial stackers, a portable trammel/shredder and 20 roll-off containers. The grant is due to the OEPA by Dec. 5.

— Entered into a one-year contract with Terry Seeberger as general legal counsel at a rate of $150 per hour, with the option to contract additional legal counsel as needed, not to exceed $10,000 annually. The rate remains unchanged from 2023-2025.

— Approved 2026 grants for sheriff’s departments in Stark, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties ($285,000 total), health departments ($325,000 total) and Tire Host Community Cleanup grants of $2,500 each for four locations.

For information, the 21-member policy committee will hold a budget meeting Dec. 11 at 9:30 a.m. and an organizational meeting Jan. 30, 2026. The committee is responsible for writing the solid waste plan.

Tipping fee revenue has increased 3.25% through September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. About $3.5 million in tipping fee revenue — roughly 75% of projected annual revenue — has been collected during the first nine months of 2025, consistent with the past two years.

The next board of directors meeting will be held Jan. 9, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at the district office, 9918 Wilkshire Blvd. NE, Bolivar.