LISBON - Six $2,000 state grants were awarded in Columbiana County to fund litter collection and tire disposal programs this year.Eric Matthews is the recycling education and litter prevention coordinator for the solid waste district serving Columbiana, Carroll and Harrison counties. Matthews reported this week $2,000 grants were awarded to county commissioners, the county Park District, the city of East Palestine, the village of Wellsville, and Knox and Middleton townships.
The money came from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and is to be used by recipients to help underwrite the costs of staging clean-up events in their communities. For example, East Palestine uses its $2,000 to help pay the cost of hosting an annual community clean-up day. Some of the townships use the money to host roadside trash pickup days or tire collection events.
Matthews said the solid waste district will use some of its money to help these recipients pay for the events. He noted 10,000 discarded tires were removed from roadsides during events funded last year with these grants and with assistance from the district.
Commissioners will use their $2,000 to help fund a countywide clean-up event.
The following is the list of local governments that applied for a grant but were turned down: East Liverpool, Lisbon and Hanover and Salem townships. Matthews said Lisbon was turned down because it wanted to use inmates from the female prison-alternative facility in town to help collect trash. This was the same problem with East Liverpool, which wanted to use community service workers sentenced from municipal court. Matthews said the program prohibits recipients from using prisoners or those sentenced to community service to help.
Salem Township's application was deemed to be too vague, while Hanover Township wanted $2,000 to purchase containers with the $2,000, which is also a prohibited use, according to Matthews.
