Jackson Co. Applying For Solid Waste Grant

Jackson County Commission applying for a $50,000 solid waste grant.

Mayor Randy Heady said the grant pool had closed down during the pandemic and had recently opened back up. He said the funding has to go towards recycling mechanisms.

“The three things we are looking to go for is a new tow motor, our tow motors have been costing us quite a bit of money to try and keep up, it’s an electric tow motor which should give us a real good advantage getting that,” Heady said. “The quote that we got also included a charger so that’s a good deal. Also, we’re going for a portable dock. We’ve run into some issues with the dock that we’ve been using.

Heady said the building where the loading dock was located and the owners were wanting the county to rent. He said that was not in the county’s best interest to rent a building in bad shape even though the loading dock was good.

Heady said the final priority on the list was a trailer to transport cardboard. He said right now it’s taking crews too many trips to transport it and the county is trying to cut down on fuel miles.

“We’re going to go as far as we can (with the money),” Heady said. “It’s a $50,000 grant and it costs us $5,000, it’s a 10 percent match. So we can get $55,000 if we get $50,000. The only thing that might have to happen is with the trailer, we might have to look for a really good used trailer.”

Heady said the funding has not been guaranteed, and they hope to hear back soon.