Athens mayor betrays his bad feelings about private haulers

To the Editor:

The mayor of Athens attended a City Council meeting in Logan Wednesday night to help convince Logan officials the new Athens Hocking Solid Waste District plan should be passed. I questioned the mayor of Athens why should all the citizens who do not live in the special contract areas (city of Athens and Ohio University) have to pay more money for nothing in return.

The new plan will cost everyone way more than 49 cents because the businesses will have to pay the most and pass the cost on to the customers! I pointed out the fact that the district raised all the rates outside the special contract areas, and that it was not fair to pass a plan that will only benefit certain people. That is when the mayor of Athens asked who I was, and apparently got upset and made a comment that the city could do away with all the licensed haulers and do it themselves or contract it out.

This is not the first time the Athens mayor has expressed these personal feelings. Last year our fees tripled, causing one hauler to forfeit its license. I'm not sure why a leader of the community would want to do away with free enterprise, especially since we provide free recycling to all our commercial customers!

Kevin Farmer
Farmer's Refuse
Logan