by Jeanne Larson

At its November 17 meeting at the Public Works Building in Sandstone, the Pine County Board of Commissioners heard a presentation by Celina Laursen who works with the recycling program being carried out by Pine Habilitation and Supported Employment, Inc. (PHASE) workers in Pine County. The county’s recycling contract with PHASE began in January of this year. According to Laursen, the total amount of material collected from the recycling sheds through October of this year was 1,377,192 pounds of material. Of this material, 126,560 was garbage for which the program had to pay for disposal. The total amount of recyclable material was 1,250,632 pounds. Laursen told the board that the program is still losing money overall, but is improving in this regard. They lost $10,000 in October and that was a good month. Since April, the total amount of recyclables has gone up from 5,431 pounds per day to 5,816.89 pounds per day while the pounds of garbage had decreased from 707 pounds per day to 588.65 pounds per day.

Board Chair Ed Montbriand said that he had stopped by the PHASE recycling operation just that morning and was very impressed with the operation. Laursen told board members that their workers were very happy and love what they are doing. “It’s a good opportunity for them,” she added. “There are so many awesome stories. This program has changed lives.” Laursen went on to discuss the fluctuations from location to location in the various months of operation. She said there did not seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason for such fluctuations. The sheds in Sandstone have been removed and recycling at that location is taken directly to the main building in the downtown area, which is open at all hours. The Pine City sheds have the most total poundage with the Willow River location coming in second. Brook Park has the least amount collected. Since recycling in Sandstone is now taken directly to the main building, this probably accounts for some of the decrease in the amount of garbage that comes to the sheds, since there are cameras there and workers are around during the day. Laursen said she wished there were some way to monitor the sheds better, but no one has come up with a workable solution yet. Laursen told board members that the Message in a Bottle program which began in August 2008 has been very successful. Under this program the county has partnered with the Recycling Association of Minnesota to procure approximately 100 “Message in a Bottle” receptacles to place with Pine County business owners who allow the receptacles to be placed on their property. These bottle-shaped containers are for recycling material at the various business places throughout the county. Laursen explained that a new program is being started called “It’s in the Bag” to recycle plastic bags throughout the county. Commissioner Steve Hallan, who championed the PHASE recycling program at its inception, said he was really proud of the program and thinks it has been a good idea all around.

The board also heard a presentation from Genevive Tenoso, a partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau. Tenoso explained that a complete count of the United States population is taken every ten years. Educating the public about the census is very important because the outcome can affect representation in national, state and local government. Most families, she explained, will get the short form, which consists of 10 questions. The information obtained in the census is completely confidential, Tenoso said. The Census Bureau does not communicate with any other government agencies. In order to get as complete census information as possible, the Census Bureau would like to get some help from the county in educating people. In the last census, Pine County got only a 50% response to the forms it sent out. Part of this is because some people live in other areas of the country for parts of the year. If they submit a census form from another state or county, they will be counted as residents of whatever area they claim as their main residence. Prisons and group homes are counted as a group, and the group counting was already completed in October.

In other business: The board was informed that the City of Pine City did approve the lease agreement for the old courthouse building. Under the agreement, the city will be using the center of the building, while much of the other areas will still be used by the county for storage. There is also a possibility of renting out part of the second floor of the building at some point. Commissioner Curt Rossow said he was concerned about how the county would obtain access to the basement and other areas of the building under the lease agreement. He worried about the city having access to areas where the county stores documents. He also wondered why the city would be taking possession of the building in January, but not making the first rent payment until July. Acting County Coordinator Mark LeBrun told Rossow that the only areas accessible to the city outside of their office space would be the bathrooms. No vote from the county was taken on the matter because there was not a full board present.

LeBrun told the board that he wanted to have a meeting with the facilities committee to discuss the energy audit reports. Some of the smaller buildings that the county uses are using as much energy as larger buildings. These inefficiencies should be addressed.