By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Barton County was offering $15,000 in grants to help keep certain items out of the landfill. That money is mostly gone after Wednesday's county commission meeting. The governing body gave just over $5,200 to the city of Claflin and just over $3,200 to Sunflower Diversified, both for recycling projects. Most of the remainder of the Solid Waste Fund Recycling grant will go to the city of Great Bend for tire disposal.
"We have a recycle program in progress that's been going on for a number of years," said Claflin City Councilman Robert Gunder. "Our equipment, we have an enclosed trailer that's very awkward and hard to manage. We applied for a KDHE grant to purchase a new recycle trailer that is accessed from the outside and will be so much better than what we have."
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment provided 75 percent of the purchase cost through a grant, leaving the city of Claflin a remaining bill of $5,240.25. Gunder asked the commission if it could foot half of the balance. Commissioner Kirby Krier made a motion to pay the full balance and the measure carried 4-0.
Sunflower Diversified Services Chief Financial Officer Shelby Zuniga informed commissioners of a grant that provided just over $6,400 toward the purchase of a bunker to assist with the transportation of glass for recycling. The commission agreed to award Sunflower half of the remaining cost, or $3,219.74.
Just over $6,500 remains in the county's recycling grant. That money will be used for tire disposal after Great Bend's city-wide cleanup.