Residents urge recycling drop-off and request badge access to county garage door

WASHINGTON, Pa. — During the public-comment period Thursday, a longtime volunteer asked commissioners to allow the county to host a short-term collection box for donated tennis shoes and appealed for ongoing support of local litter-reduction and recycling efforts. A county employee later requested badge access for a second-floor door that leads to the parking garage, saying staff sometimes become locked out and feel unsafe.

The first speaker, Fern, described a recycling drive for used tennis shoes and noted there are drop-off locations across the county (including the Citizens Library, the senior center and a city drop box). Fern said a recycling company pays between $1 and $7 per pair and that the program would be short term (about one month) and separate from prior long-running bottle-cap collections. Fern asked whether the county would allow a single drop box upstairs similarly to past storage arrangements.

Fern also described volunteer litter removal work across the county and tied a general message about community well-being to the recycling effort.

Later in the comment period, Laura Hoff said she has joined the county safety committee and asked that county staff install badge access for employees at a second-floor egress to the parking garage currently controlled by the VA. Hoff said employees have been locked out and must use stairs, and that a badge-access solution would reduce safety concerns for staff who enter and exit the building off hours; county staff said they would follow up with buildings and grounds.

Both speakers received brief thanks and acknowledgment from commissioners and county staff. The meeting record shows no formal vote tied to either public-comment request; staff committed to follow up on the badge-access question and expressed appreciation for Fern’s volunteer efforts.