By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
When the snow starts to melt, the activity begins at the Jackson Township administrative building.
“Our phones just ring off the hook,” said Dave Burris, a member on the township’s board of trustees.
What the residents frequently call to report, he explained, is the sight of heavy litter lining the roadways.
“It’s a big problem,” added trustee Stephen Bowshier.
According to Bowshier, crews with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio come out to pick up the litter on the highways surrounding the townships once or twice a year but he stated he feels that amount is inadequate in comparison to the volume of litter on the roads.
“Once or twice a year is just not enough,” he said.
While Deputy Ken Upton, a community liaison with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, was giving an activity report during the Feb. 20 board meeting, Bowshier asked if the department was still doing community cleanups with inmate crews.
“We had done that in the past with the sheriff’s department,” he said.
Upton said he was unsure as to whether that program was still active.
“I know there were crews out there (cleaning the side of the highways) earlier this winter in some areas but I’m not sure if they’re still doing contracts with townships,” he explained.
Upton said he would ask his supervisor and get back with the trustees as soon as there was a definitive answer.
In other news, the trustees tabled a vote on the proposed 2018 budget due to their need for additional information regarding the Fire and EMS budgets. Burris said they would likely meet an hour earlier than their next regularly scheduled meeting on March 5 to further discuss the financial matters.
