By Amanda Ensinger
Staff Writer
In an effort to clean up the township, the Franklin Township trustees are applying for a grant that would significantly increase recycling in the region.
At a recent meeting, the board approved moving forward with the application for the 2019 Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) Community Waste Reduction grant. The grant focuses on implementing sustainable, environmentally conscious methods of waste reduction and diversion to divert recyclable materials from the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill.
“This grant will help increase recycling in the township and reduce the waste we have seen here,” said Aryeh Alex, township trustee. “If we receive the grant, we would use the funds to look at ways to educate folks on how to be more environmentally friendly and just raise overall awareness about the importance of this.”
The competitive grant provides funding for activities that increase reuse, recycling and composting, as well as diversion-related outreach and education activities. Programs, projects and services would be created with the funds that address the unique waste reduction and recycling needs of the township.
“There will be a strong community component here too, where it will be up to the community to come up with ideas on how we can communicate these important messages and achieve results,” Alex said.
Grant applications are due on Sept. 21 and grants range from $500 to $35,000.
In other news, the trustees discussed selling township owned property.
“We have decided to sell the properties we have possession of that have structures on them,” said Jessica Rice, administrative assistant for the township. “The board is currently reviewing the structures we recommend selling, the fees associated with these sales and they are reviewing realtors.”
The township owns approximately 20 properties and would like to sell five properties with structures on them and one vacant lot. They took possession of the majority of these properties as a result of the owners not paying taxes.
The trustees also discussed the importance of managing storm water runoff. The township has continued to see an issue with storm water runoff pollution entering the regional waterways and wants to fix this.
A few tips that were given to community members included making sure your septic system or aerator is functioning properly, sweeping up any fertilizer from sidewalks, driveways or other hard surfaces to avoid it washing into the storm drain, keeping lawn and yard waste out of the street, pick up pet waste and disposing of it properly, washing your car in an area where the wash and rinse drains to a grassy area and using items like rain barrels that store water that can be reused.
The trustees also announced that residents can purchase reflective house number signs. The signs can be purchased directly through the township and can be mounted horizontally or vertically with numbers on both sides. The cost is $10 per sign and $25 cents per number.
For more information, visit franklin-township.com.
