Published: June 23, 2009 10:02 am      

Goshen’s yard waste recycling site will be reopened beginning July 22

Goshen’s Environmental Center will soon begin operations once again.

The Board of Works and Public Safety Monday approved a new contract with Soil Solutions, a Fort Wayne-headquartered company, to run the center beginning July 22. City officials had been in talks with the company ever since Brock Trucking & Excavating Inc. filed bankruptcy earlier this year, according to Mayor Allan Kauffman.

“We had two or three weeks of serious discussion about them running the place,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a good agreement.”

The agreement runs from the July opening date until Dec. 31, with an option to renew for 2010. For this year’s operations, Soil Solutions will receive $8,333 per month for five months, a total of approximately $41,600. For operations in 2011, a request for proposals will have to be prepared, which any company capable of operating the site will have the opportunity to reply to.

Representatives from Soil Solutions indicated to city employees that they would begin cleaning the site later this week. The city Street Department staff has been working on cleaning up the site in the interim period. Kauffman called their efforts “absolutely wonderful.” Department employees have separated much of the materials on-site, cleaned up around the main building and graded the site so water will now drain off.

“It is a tremendous difference,” Kauffman said. “If you didn’t see it before you can’t appreciate it.”

Once operations resume, the environmental site will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon during the summer, and Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the winter.

Earlier in the meeting, board members rejected bids on the sale of surplus single ground, screened wood products from the site after it was determined that the work Soil Solutions must perform will require using all of the material.

Approval was given for Goshen Police Department Adjutant Jose Miller to use Goshen’s share of a multijurisdictional justice assistance grant for the purchase of bullet-proof tactical vests for the department’s Emergency Response Team. The city’s share is $12,435.

The board also opened two bids for concrete services. Eagle Ready-Mix submitted a bid of $88,500, and Aggregate Industries submitted a bid of $75,540.