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Rifle talks recycling

Post Independent Writer

Rifle residents want to recycle.By Heidi RiceRifle CorrespondentRifle residents want to recycle.That’s the message city officials received last week. The city has not had any recycling service for the past 2 1/2 years, ever since local resident Elmer Blackmore retired from his recycling business.”I’ve had a lot of people ask me about recycling,” said Mayor Keith Lambert. “It’s probably the number one topic for individuals in the community that I’ve heard in the last two years.”Lambert said he has done research on bringing recycling to the city for more than a year and says the stumbling blocks include money and a location for a recycling bin.”I bring it up at council every year,” Lambert said.Former Mayor John Scalzo approached city council members last week, requesting that a recycling program be restarted. Scalzo suggested the city start with the recycling of newspapers and cardboard and proposed using a site at Metro Park on Railroad Avenue. In the past, Blackmore provided a recycling bin every Saturday morning in the City Market parking lot. From 8 a.m. until noon, residents could bring their recyclables – including bottles, cans and newspapers – to the site free of charge. The city paid Blackmore $200 a month to provide the service.In May 2002, at age 70, Blackmore retired after nearly 13 years and tried to sell his recycling business. But he had no buyers, so he closed up shop.”We’ve had nothing since then,” Scalzo said.The city’s public works director, Bill Sappington, said he would also be in favor of a recycling program. City Manager John Hier says the matter will come up at the city’s budget workshops in the next month before the budget is finalized in early December.


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