Wayne County is navigating the necessary steps to dissolve Wayne Union Recycling after withdrawing last year from Wayne Union Recycling Solid Waste Management District.
Commissioner Jeff Plasterer presented commissioners with a list of WUR assets during the commissioners’ Feb. 19 meeting. The assets included two laptops and a Ricoh printer with a five-year maintenance contract that Plasterer said would go to the Wayne County Soil and Water Conservation District.
The conservation district would also receive some items that are used during conservation and ag days, for the Wayne County 4-H Fair, giveaways and arts and crafts. The remaining items are generally for educational purposes and would be kept by Wayne County for use with Richmond Sanitary District in joint recycling programs and projects.
WUR also has about $250,000 in its account. Plasterer said the proposal would give $25,000 to Union County, which mirrors the county’s 10% contributions to WUR. The rest would pay for employee salaries and continued recycling activities during 2025.
Plasterer said Union County is OK with the plan, so a draft agreement will be written.
The two counties and WUR must disperse the assets and conduct a public hearing prior to March 31.
Richmond tax
The Indiana Senate passed 47-2 Senate Bill 304 that would enable Richmond to enact a food and beverage tax but also repeals from Indiana code the two-decades-old provision allowing Wayne County and its towns to have food and beverage taxes.
Plasterer said he spoke with Sen. Jeff Raatz about the county’s opposition to repealing that part of the code. Commissioners said they’d be satisfied if the bill were amended to give Wayne County and the towns the same Jan. 1, 2027, deadline to enact a tax that the bill provides Richmond.
A local planning process is identifying priority projects for the county and towns, and the legislature is considering reductions in property tax revenue. In both instances, a food and beverage tax is an option for the county and towns to gain additional revenue.
Communication towers
Commissioners signed lease agreements to put Wayne County equipment on two communication towers.
The towers are part of a project that will upgrade volunteer fire department communications to 800 megahertz. For decades, communications have been spotty in parts of the county, with particular dead zones in the southwest and northeast portions. The new towers help fill those voids.
Tower King will construct and own the towers. The county will pay $4,175 per tower per month, and the price will increase 3% annually. One tower will be placed at the highway department facility on U.S. 40, and Tower King will pay the county $500 per month to lease the land.
Other actions
- A new X-ray machine was installed Feb. 13 at the courthouse entrance. Commissioners voted to let Fayette County have the old, obsolete machine if it picks the machine up.
- Commissioners approved a contract with SRI Services to run the April 17 deed sale.
- Commissioners waived the First Bank Expo Hall rental fee for Eastern Indiana Works to conduct a veterans’ job fair.
- Commissioners approved a contract for a new highway department truck driver who will be supported in acquiring a commercial driver’s license. The contract includes the provision that the county will seek reimbursement of up to $9,600 should the driver leave county employment within two years.
A version of this article appeared in the February 26 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.