ASHLAND — Ashland County Commissioners had a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the county’s recycling services and the expenses regarding Aerohio Skydiving’s move to Ashland County Airport.
Commissioners approved a one-year contract with Recycleit, based out of Cleveland. Paul Osad, Vice President of sales and part owner of Recycleit, spoke at the meeting about privatizing recycling services.
“We are going to recycle everything that is currently being recycled now, but our goal is to grow the program,” Osad said.”Our plans are to take a facility that is doing about 250 tons to 1,000 tons.
“Our goal is to work with the commissioners, work with solid waste, improve on the program, grow the program and provide proceeds as we continue to grow.”
This not only will increase the amount of recycling in the county, but it will also create jobs for the Ashland community, he said.
“We’re going to employ Ashland residents and people in the county,” Osad said. “We’ve done a successful job up in Cleveland and we think that this area is a perfect area to grow.
“We will keep everything in place as it already is, but we will grow on that. We want this to be a very successful program because we want to use this as an example for other communities or other counties across the country that are struggling with the down market; we feel like we have a formula to make that successful and if we do it here, we know we can do it anywhere.”
Recycleit recycles 10,000 tons of industrial and residential recyclables in Cleveland. The plan is to match that number in Ashland County.
The meeting also included Chad Sanders, manager of Mohican State Forest, presenting a check of $4,976 to the commissioners. That amount represents the net value of timber harvested from the forest during the past year.
The check will be distributed between Ashland County, Hanover Township and Loudonville-Perrysville school district.
A check for $6,300 was donated from Sutton Bank for the Corner Park Trail project. Dennis Miller, vice president of the Ashland-area Sutton Bank, was there to present the check.
“There was no was question about the merits of this project,” Miller said. “This is going to be a wonderful addition to the city and the county.
“It’s also going to be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike for generations to come.”
Tom Zupan, Ken VanDuyne and the commissioners discussed Aerohio Skydiving’s upcoming move from Rittman to the Ashland County Airport and the actions needed prior to the move taking place.
“My goal is always for the airport or the county fairgrounds to be self-sufficient at some point and I am always willing to support anything that takes us in that direction,” said Denny Bittle, Ashland County Commissioner. “I truly believe that it is a goal that can be accomplished.
“I think this growth for future and self-sufficiency is very important.”
Aerohio will become a tenant in its own hangar at the Ashland County Airport and aims to bring in an additional $24,000 in revenue to the airport. Airplanes called Super Caravans will be able to take 16 jumpers into the air at a time.
The company plans to start operating in Ashland on April 1 of 2020, and will continue until November before ceasing operation for the winter season. Aerohio is one of only two skydiving companies in Ohio. The other is located near Cincinnati.
