EMPORIUM — The Cameron County Recycling Center on Plank Hollow Road has reopened and is again accepting recyclables, commissioners announced during Thursday’s regular meeting.
Nearly $65,000 in grant funding was secured to construct a pavilion over the recycling center and to purchase new dumpsters for use at the site. The pavilion gives workers a protected area to complete sorting and other tasks, along with keeping water off cardboard and paper, which cannot be recycled if it gets wet prior to transport to a recycling facility.
The recycling center has been closed since last year in order for the improvements to be completed. In the interim, Cameron County residents were able to drop off their bagged recycling behind the Emporium Borough maintenance building.
Commissioners and recycling staff request that residents place bagged recycling beneath the pavilion. Residents can pre-sort recyclables and place into separate bags prior to drop off, but are requested to leave bagged recyclables for staff to place into dumpsters.
“We have to check and make sure everything in the roll-offs is what’s supposed to be in there,” said Recycling Coordinator Tara Newton. “Please bring the recycling up the ramp and put it under the roof; we will make sure it’s sorted and then put it in the bins.”
The center accepts brown, green, and clear glass; numbers 1 and 2 plastics; tin or aluminum cans; printer paper; and corrugated cardboard. All recyclables must be bagged.
Center employees still have issues with garbage and non-recyclable items being dropped off or placed into the dumpster, and ask residents to make sure items dropped off are actually accepted.
Electronics must still be taken to the Elk County Recycling Center, which is open the third Saturday of each month. More information is available by contacting the Cameron County Courthouse.
In other business, commissioner Lori Reed attended a recent meeting of the Northwestern Pennsylvania County Commissioners at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum in Potter County. During the session, discussion turned to the state budget, which Reed was happy to report returned funding for a number of human service items that were on the chopping block. Those items, which included a zeroing-out of funding for probation and similar departments, will be funded at the same levels as last year.
“Pennsylvania commissioners launched a grassroots effort for House Bill 218 to have those items levelly funded,” said Reed. “We had been very concerned about losing probation and other funding.”
Associated counties will begin hosting breakout sessions at these meetings for officials of similarly-sized counties to meet and discuss best practices, budgeting, taxation and other pertinent issues.
The next meeting of the Cameron County Commissioners will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 3 at the courthouse in Emporium.
