Scioto County and Lawrence County, Ohio can’t agree over proposed changes to their joint Solid Waste Management District. “We are at an impasse,” said Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis at Thursday’s commissioners meeting. “We’ve been communicating with the chairman of the Lawrence County Commissioners. We have reached an impasse and are going to have to have a special meeting in order to discuss that.”
Two weeks ago, Davis expressed a desire to try something different in the ongoing fight against litter in Southern Ohio. “We feel like we need to do something a little bit more innovative and out of the box.”
Davis made the comment in response to a media question about progress in filling the vacant enforcement officer position with the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District. The agency is also in charge of fighting littering and illegal dumping in both counties. The enforcement officer was dismissed last October and the positing has not been filled. At the time, Davis said talks with Lawrence County Commissioners were going well. But it looks as if discussions hit a roadblock.
Commissioner Davis said he hoped to change the way codes are enforced. “We wanted to something different. Something that would make code enforcement better in Scioto County. Something that we feel is lacking. We would like to change the makeup of how that is done.”
He said Lawrence County Commissioners did not see things his way. “They disagree with how we want to do it. We’re going to sit down and we’re going to talk about that again and hopefully come to a resolution.”
Scioto County Not Well-Represented
The commissioner said it’s all about looking out for local residents. “The one thing we want to do is make sure the citizens of Scioto County, Ohio are well-represented. We don’t feel that’s the case right now. And we want to make sure that it.”
Davis said COVID played a part in the delay filling positions. “Unfortunately, we’ve had a lull. COVID, of course, has been going on as well. Which has impacted our operations. Especially anything that’s related to the EPA. A lot of that stuff is being stalled.”
If the two counties can’t reach an agreement, there could be some big changes on the horizon. “We’re going to address that with them.” See if there’s any possibility to move forward. If not, we’re just going to have to change how we do things.”
Commissioner Davis also addressed concerns that local judges are unwilling to hear litter control cases. “I don’t really want to go there. That’s a better question for judges. I will say this, one of the complaints we’ve heard in the past is that the judges feel like they need solid cases. They need evidence in order to rule. So, you know. If that’s something that’s lacking, that’s something we will address on our end. That’s something that we want to address. There have been instances like that. I’m not going to criticize the judges at this time. We need to do our part. The solid waste district needs to do its part. And the judges, of course, it’s their call.”
Davis said he hoped to have a special joint meeting of Scioto and Lawrence County, Ohio commissioners soon. The meeting might be virtual or in-person.
