The Yard Waste Recycling Center is now open for the annual growing season, with new management and new rules — and fees — for businesses using the center for tree limb and other yard waste disposal.

Todd Rostron, owner of Arbor Care Tree & Landscaping, said Kokomo’s center is one of the last in the area to institute a fee.

“Pretty much every place charges now, except Kokomo. They’re one of the last to do it,” Rostron said.

Effective May 18, Howard County-based tree service businesses can purchase a season-long dumping pass at the 1130 S. Dixon Road facility for $500; lawn services can dump grass all season for $250.

Kokomo and Howard County residents, however, will still be able to drop off limbs and yard waste for free under the new rules.

Formerly run by the City of Kokomo, the center is now under the supervision of the Howard County Recycling District.

The district board, comprised of city and county officials and a Greentown representative, set the new fees last month for residents and businesses wishing to drop off yard waste.

Recycling district director Mikki Jeffers said the new rules are aimed at reducing landfill fees by encouraging local residents to recycle yard waste instead of dumping it curbside.

Rostron, however, wasn’t so sure lawn companies and tree services won’t simply offer residents a “discount” to take the stuff to the yard center themselves.

“You’re just going to have to charge everyone who comes in, because you can’t tell who’s from the county and who isn’t,” he said. “And people are always trying to get something for free.”

Nonetheless, Kokomo city officials turned the yard waste center over to the recycling district in hopes of saving money. The city still will own the property, but city personnel will no longer man the center while it’s open.

“The city still owns the property, but we are managing it,” Jeffers said.

“A lot of people still put their leaves and yard waste in the trash, and this opens up the opportunity for them to bring it to us,” she said.

“We figured that was a fair price because these businesses have been dumping there for years free of charge,” she said. “These fees can go back into the center to help man the property, grind the stuff and basically maintain the property.”

Jeffers said the worker out at the center has been notifying everyone who comes in of the new fees since the center opened in late April. She said she’s also trying to send out letters to businesses.

“Actually, [the reaction has] been pretty good; there’s a couple that are upset about it, but others agree with it and say we need a fee,” Jeffers said. “We’ll just take the upset people as they come.”

Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight has signed off on the agreement. The new charges are as follows:

• Howard County/Kokomo residents: Free

• Howard County-based business: $20 per visit

• Howard County-based tree servicing businesses may purchase a $500 annual pass.

• Howard County-based yard service businesses may purchase a $250 annual pass.

• Businesses and residents outside Howard County: $20 per visit (no annual pass)

Mark Rice, owner of Rice Tree Service, West Middleton, said the move won’t affect him because he just invested in an industrial-strength chipper and will be mulching all of the tree limbs lopped off by his workers.

Rice said he hopes the new management will curb the kind of illegal dumping that has plagued the yard waste center in the past.

Rice was originally going to use his chipper to mulch and remove the huge pile of limbs on the center’s property, but quit the job after metal, hidden in the tree limbs, wrecked his new machine. Fortunately, the machine was still under warranty.

And Rostron said even $500 isn’t unreasonable, given that tree companies will often dump two or three times a day during the May-to-October season.

“I honestly don’t feel it will, but I’ve been wrong before,” Jeffers said when asked if charging will encourage illegal dumping elsewhere. “We’re open pretty good hours for them, and I don’t feel it’s that big a chunk of change.”

Scott Smith is a Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com



Yard Waste Recycling Center

• WHERE: 1130 S. Dixon Road

• WHEN: Center opened during the first full week of April and will close on a tentative date of Oct. 31.

• HOURS: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon; closed Thursday and Sunday

• RULES OF RECYCLING: Acceptable items include grass clippings, leaves, small limbs; unacceptable items include rocks, gravel, soil, lumber, trees, trash, construction debris, etc. Center users who leave behind trash bags, trash cans or tarps will be fined. Leaving materials on the property before or after the posted hours of operation is prohibited.

• QUESTIONS: Residents may contact the Howard County Recycling District with questions at (765) 456-2274.