3 townships could see restored service

Residents of Kasson, Solon and Bingham townships may be able use Leelanau County recycling sites and services "legally" next year following action Tuesday evening by the county Board of Commissioners.

Residents of a fourth Leelanau County township – Cleveland Township – will have no opportunity to use the county’s recycling sites or services next year without violating the law unless they convince the Cleveland Township Board to take action quickly.

In August 2006, a majority of voters in Leelanau County approved a $25 per household fee to support the county’s recycling programs – although voters in Bingham, Cleveland, Kasson and Solon townships narrowly voted down the measure. As a result, residents of those four townships lost the right to participate in the county’s recycling programs this year.

However, representatives of the four township governments subsequently convinced the county to allow township residents to voluntarily purchase a $30 voucher that would allow use of county recycling services through the end of 2007. County officials insisted, however, that the special program would not be renewed at the end of the year, and that the townships would need to find a more permanent solution to help fund the county’s recycling programs if the township residents were to continue participating.

The solution came through a state law that will allow township boards to add a $25 per household fee to December 2007 tax bills to support the county’s recycling program in 2008 – with an “opt-out” provision for taxpayers who do not want to participate in the program. Recently, the boards of Kasson, Solon and Bingham townships decided to approve “interlocal agreements” with the county that will set up the new funding arrangement in their townships.

The county board also decided to approve the agreements at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening. Kasson, Solon and Bingham township officials will likely provide notice of the new arrangement with summer tax bills and provide an “opt out” form for taxpayers. If taxpayers don’t want to pay the $25 per household fee or participate in recycling programs, they must submit the form in time for the fee to be removed from their December 2007 tax bill.

Unless the Cleveland Township Board decides to take action within the next two or three weeks identical to actions taken recently by the Kasson, Solon and Bingham township boards, then any Cleveland Township resident using any Leelanau County recycling site in 2008 will be guilty of “larceny by conversion,” according to county officials.

The tight deadline is related to requirements for conducting a township referendum on the issue before December 2007 tax bills are distributed. If residents of any of the four townships disagree with a decision of their township board, they may petition for a referendum.

Cleveland Township officials have stated publicly that they have no intention of imposing a recycling fee on township taxpayers – even with an “opt out” provision – unless taxpayers petition them to take action. The August 2006 vote in Cleveland Township was 103-87 against imposing the recycling fee with about 24-percent of registered Cleveland Township voters casting ballots.

District No. 3 county commissioner Will Bunek, who represents portions of Suttons Bay and Bingham townships, appeared to agree with the sentiments of Cleveland Township officials who have elected to take no action in deference to the August 2006 vote.

“The people of those four townships voted ‘no’ on this issue in August,” Bunek said Tuesday evening. “I believe the county is now using a system to pay for recycling that subverts a vote of the people in those townships.”

The rest of the county board disagreed, voting 6-1 to approve the agreements with Kasson, Solon and Bingham townships. Earlier in the meeting, District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner expressed sentiments similar to Bunek’s, but did not publicly offer an explanation of her “yes” vote on the issue.

Earlier Tuesday, the county’s Solid Waste Council met and decided to add their endorsement to the “interlocal agreements” with the three townships pending the county board’s approval. They also decided to recommend returning recycling bins to a site in Cedar that had been removed following the August 2006 vote, contingent on the county board’s vote Tuesday evening.

The return of recycling bins to Cedar may occur within a month or two pending a finalized agreement with township officials related to the exact location of the bins, county officials said.

The Solid Waste Council also recommended that the county board expend up to $11,000 to purchase two more recycling bins. Officials noted that a recycling site was added recently in Glen Arbor Township where support for the county’s recycling program is particularly strong. In addition, a recycling bin in Suttons Bay Township was damaged by fire recently, and the number of “spare” bins required to operate the program has been diminished.

The county board voted 7-0 to authorize the expenditure for two more recycling bins.