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Hancock County committee appoints noxious-weed superintendent and refers solid-waste update after EPA notice
Summary
The Health and Miscellaneous Committee unanimously appointed Ryan Weeks as Hancock County’s noxious-weed superintendent and moved the county’s overdue solid-waste plan update to the Building and Grounds Committee after noting an EPA letter requiring an update within 120 days; the last county update was in 2005.
The Hancock County Health and Miscellaneous Committee on March 2 voted unanimously to appoint Ryan Weeks as the county’s noxious-weed superintendent and to transfer further work on the county’s solid-waste plan to the Building and Grounds Committee.
The appointment and referral came during a broader discussion of noxious weeds and solid waste. The minutes state that Weeks is the current noxious-weed superintendent and that an annual report and a comprehensive work plan that were to be sent to the county board and the Director of the Department of Agriculture have not yet been submitted.
Committee members also recorded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent the county a letter in December giving the county 120 days to complete an update to its solid-waste plan; the minutes note the plan’s last revision was in 2005. The committee did not complete the update at the March 2 meeting and voted to move the matter to Building and Grounds for further work and oversight.
Josh Turner made the motion to appoint Weeks and to move the solid-waste discussion; Michelle Merritt seconded. The motion passed on a voice vote, with all members present voting aye.
The minutes do not provide further detail on the timeline the Building and Grounds Committee will set, what resources will be required for a plan update, or whether outside consultants will be engaged. The EPA letter and the age of the current plan were presented in the minutes as the primary drivers for the referral.
Next steps: the Building and Grounds Committee will take up the solid-waste plan update; the minutes do not record a follow-up date or a deadline beyond the EPA’s 120-day direction recorded in the minutes.
