Advertisement

A jail crew has been brought in to help. "We'll have them in here until we get this place back to the way it should be," Miller said.

As the result of the millage renewal not being passed in a ballot language snafu last year, the center will continue to service 200 recyclers in two-and-a-half days until January of 2008.

"I'd like to thank the voters for going back and voting on this," Miller said of the spring Ô07 vote in favor of the village renewal.

Millage funds for fulltime employment will be available after Jan. 1, 2008.

According to Miller, the two part-time staffers continue to tally users of the center.

"In the five years I've been here, we have gone from 25 to 30 people each day to 80 to 90 people each day," Miller said. "The traffic is non-stop."

According to Lou Nemeth, District 2 commissioner, at a recent Kalkaska County Board of Commissioner's meeting, complaints about the center were discussed.

Complaints centered around the limited hours and the condition of the center itself, including the driveway.

The commission approved 10 yards of gravel to be dumped and spread. It will be contracted as maintenance by the DPW committee.

Recyclers using the center last week did not seem to be bothered by the conditions.

"I come every time I have a trunk full," Willard Ryckman of Coldsprings Twp. said. "I probably come once a month."

He said the staff members and jail crew were very helpful. Mike Wooden of Kalkaska said he uses the center once every month or so.

"This time of year, I have a lot of plastic water bottles," Wooden said. "I should come more often."

Through the end of 2007, the recycling center, located on Island Lake Road, west of West Street, will be open Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 8 a.m. until noon.

Miller encourages local businesses to recycle their office paper, shredded or not, as well as their cardboard. Businesses that generate a large amount of paper could reduce the number of times their dumpster is emptied.

"The more the merrier," he said.

The Kalkaska County recycling center accepts the following items: Newspapers and inserts Magazines Catalogs Phone books Shredded paper Cardboard Clean metal cans Rinsed plastic jugs with a #1 or #2 stamped on the bottom Rinsed glass jars (clear or brown glass)

All metal There is a fee for appliances containing freon and the center charges a fee for tires, based on size.

For more information, call 231-258-3369.