Keeping pace with recycling

More and more people in Sisters are putting more and more cardboard, glass, newspaper and other materials in the city’s recycling center and the city is struggling to keep up.

Since last month, the community recycle bins located at Ash Street and Washington Avenue, which include three bins for cardboard and one bin for commingled recycling, are being emptied every other day, including weekends.

Recycling has gotten easier and more user-friendly because patrons don’t have to sort out and separate recyclables anymore.

“We’ve had the security box for 15 years and we used to just call in when it needed emptying,” Public Works Director Gary Frazee said. “Since it went to commingle it looks like trash because of all the packing paper (which is not considered recyclable)…it’s really abused.”

The central location of the collection center, open 24 hours a day, contributes to the popularity — and sometimes abuse — of the center, according to Frazee.

“More people are environmentally friendly and conscious and it’s in a handy place,” he said.

It’s also unpopular with neighbors, who complain about the noise and garbage sometimes spilling out of the bins.

The high volume of recycling material being produced has prompted the city to formulate a deal with the fire district to use their half-acre lot in Sisters’ industrial park for a new recycling center.

In exchange for the city using the industrial lot, the fire district would use a four-acre parcel of city-owned land for training. The four acres are located on the 160 acres the city owns for the sewer plant.

“It’s a win-win situation for both parties if we can pull it off,” Frazee said.

Frazee hopes the new recycle center can be relocated by fall, but he is not optimistic because there are more pressing issues the city must resolve first.

“There are lots of things that have taken priority over moving the recycle center,” he said.

The final plans for the new recycling center are still not ready to present to the planning commission for approval, according to Frazee. The original plans presented to the city council were sent back to the engineer because the council wanted a more attractive site plan for the center.

“We will have to build a nice decorative fence, a carport building, a loading dock and do landscaping, draining and lighting,” Frazee said.

The new collection center will be built on a budget of $300,000, Frazee said, and will likely be constructed in the next year.

The four-acre lot the fire district will get in exchange will not be accessible to the district for approximately five more years because they must go through more steps with the county.

The lot the recycling center is located on is owned by the Sisters Camp-Sherman Rural Fire Protection District. The fire department is gathering cost estimates and coming up with plans for expansion.