A Vandalia City Council Cemetery and Landfill meeting on Monday night centered around reviewing the financial standing of the recycling program at FAYCO as well as the electronic recycling with the Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District. For the last year, residents getting a water bill from the City of Vandalia have been paying an extra $1.25 for the recycling services. Kim Taylor of FAYCO presented committee members an information sheet showing revenues and expenditures for the program the last year showing the fees from the city covered 35% of the program in the first year.
Questions arose from City Attorney Ryan Connor and committee members concerning if there is an audit that may be able to be viewed and whether further information needed to be sought from FAYCO. During discussion, Mayor Rick Gottman asked Taylor about their audit which does not provide a detailed pullout for the recycling program due to it being grouped in with the services FAYCO provides for their clients.
In discussing the electronic recycling figures presented by Karen Sanders of the Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District, Connor clarified with Sanders that over half of the funding for the program is from the city.
Sanders informed the committee that many times, City of Vandalia residents come in with electronic items and do not realize that they do not have to pay a fee when bringing electronic items in to recycle due to the 25 cents a month they are already paying on their water bills.
Following all discussion, Cemetery and Landfill Chairman Ken Hubler stated he felt he had all the information he needed and that with what was given to the committee by Taylor and Sanders, they would be able to educate the city’s residents about the programs. In wrapping up the meeting, Taylor agreed for FAYCO no fees collected by the city would mean their program would not go on and finances show that the city’s contribution to the electronic recycling in the last year kept it from failing as pointed out by Mayor Gottman when looking at the financial report.