MOUNT VERNON – Knox County’s compost facility is improving in order to make using the facility easier for residents while also ensuring against contamination of the compost.
Matt Baugher, the new program manager at Knox County Recycling and Litter Prevention, told the Mount Vernon News that the improvements include an electronic gate and fencing, as well as security cameras installed by the County’s IT department.
Up until now, the gate was opened and closed by a private contractor, he said. The new gate will be fully automated during business hours, with the security cameras enabling them to report to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office anyone who dumps prohibited materials.
“Many people are familiar — it’s been kind of picky hours,” Baugher told the News. “It’s been Wednesdays and Saturdays. In the cold-weather months, it was just one day a week.”
Businesses that needed more regular access had to pay for a special key to be able to unlock the gate themselves, he said. The new gate eliminates that.
“The good thing about this for the community is it’s going to be seven days a week from here on out,” Baugher said.
Additionally, Baugher will be able to check on the security cameras from his phone, making it easy if prohibited materials are discovered to look back and identify who left them.
“Our new system is going to be able to pick up license plates,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure we’re only getting the stuff that can be composted.”
Prohibited materials include tree trunks, limbs over 10 inches in diameter, food waste, lumber (even untreated), soil or sod, and bales of straw, Baugher said. Plastic bags used to haul material need to be emptied and taken away rather than left at the facility.
Grass clippings, leaves, shrubs and brush are accepted, and the facility will also accept Christmas trees that have no decorations or other materials attached.
The facility at 7425 Thayer Road in Mount Vernon will now be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November through February every year, and will stay open until 7 p.m. from March through October, Baugher said. Commercial users who need to drop off material later in the day may be able to make special arrangements.
Funding for the project came from the Knox County Commissioners, the Ohio EPA, and the Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow (DKMM) Solid Waste District, Baugher said. The Commissioners allotted $17,000, and $7,000 each came from the DKMM and an Ohio EPA grant.
Any questions can be directed to the county’s recycling hotline at 740-393-6704, or emailed to matthewbaugher@co.knox.oh.us.
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