Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES—Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District (ORSWMD) approved grant funds for the Missouri S&T Eco-Miners and the Rolla Recycling Center in Rolla at its full council meeting on June 12 at MRPC.

The Missouri S&T Eco-Miners were looking for a more permanent way to offer recycling at the school’s sports fields and sporting events. The grant funds provide for the purchase of eight recycling bins to be placed at the football and soccer field on the Missouri S&T campus.

“The Eco-Miners thought that this was necessary due to the lack of recycling at sporting events as the school doesn’t provide recycling at these events,” Devin Olds, an undergraduate with the Eco-Miners said. “We as an organization have taken care of it in the past with portable bins we bring to the games, but we decided that more permanent form of bin would be beneficial for the purpose of recycling at events. Therefore, we looked to fund the purchase of bins that would be durable and permanent on site.”

The Rolla Recycling Center plans to enhance its educational tours.

“We will be using those funds to help enhance our educational tours here at the Rolla Recycling Center,” Director Brady Wilson said. “Specifically, we will purchase audio equipment that will allow the tour participants to better hear the tour guide in our noisy environment.”

For the 2018-19 year, the officers will be Brady Wilson with the city of Rolla as chairman, Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Skiles as co-chairman, Steve Vogt with the city of Belle as treasurer and Jay Whittaker with St. Robert Transfer Station as secretary. Whittaker is the only new officer serving this term.

The Ozark Rivers District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. The district’s strategy for solid waste reduction, which has been individually adopted by all member governments and approved by Missouri Department of Natural Resources involves education and increased recycling and waste reduction efforts in member counties and cities. MRPC provides administration of the district and assists with a variety of implementation projects.

For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area, contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, at 573-265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org. Also, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD and on the web at www.ozarkrivers.org. MRPC provides the day-to-day administration for Ozark Rivers.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 23, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.

-30-