Taneytown will soon be charged for recycling pick-ups and pay a ‘penalty’ if recycling is found mixed with other trash.

City Manager James Wieprecht noted during the City Council’s October meeting that the municipality’s recycling tipping fee will go from zero dollars to $30 per ton effective January 1. The tipping fee for solid waste disposal will be $65 per ton.

However he said, also beginning January 1, if any non-recyclables are found to have been mixed-in with the recyclables, the city will be billed as if the entire pick-up was solid waste, at $65 per ton, thus forfeiting the $30 per ton rate in the process (or, otherwise, paying a $35 penalty - for all intent and purposes - for the mixed load).

Regarding the recycling service going from zero to $30 dollars per ton, Wieprecht stated, "That’s what we have to look forward to. We were aware of it early enough to adjust our budget for that tipping fee for recycling."

Why the sudden charge for recycling? Mayor Bradley Wantz stated he was told, "There’s simply no market for recycling anymore. It used to be they could get paid for recycling materials."

City Hall door latch problematic

Just when the damages to the Taneytown City Hall were expected to have been completed, a problematic front door-latch has defied cooperation in the effort.

City Manager Wieprecht said the contractor working on the door-latch issue seemed to have become embroiled with "what must be the most complicated door-latch in the world." While the door-latch is now working, the door cannot be used until the security company comes back to tie-in the latch to the alarm system. "So right now, until we have that (the security work), the front door is essentially not usable for the public," he stated, adding, "We are so close."

The maligned latch represents the last of the $51,735.99 restoration and remodeling effort that was implemented in the wake of an incident in which Rodney Davis drove his truck into the front of the building, reportedly after having become angered that the city had cut his water-service off in August 2019.

Davis ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced on September 1 of this year to 13 years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended.

The Town Hall was officially re-opened to the public on October 19 following a final safety inspection executed during the prior week.

Roberts Mill Run work down to plantings

Stormwater runoff control measures are expected to be completed at the Roberts Mills Run project by November, the Taneytown manager told the council at their October workshop.

City Manager Wieprecht said that plantings remain to be completed at a wet pond, but that the work is imminent. The planting would be placed around the perimeter of the wet pond, which is part of the site’s storm-water management plans.

Wieprecht stated that the county awarded the contract to do the planting to Hill Lawn Service, Inc., and that the planting materials have bene ordered. As of the work session, he said staff is just waiting for the lawn service to do the work, and that the storm management work "is very close to being completed."

The bridge over Roberts Mill Run was recently completed, which, in effect, united a development that had been divided by the creek.

Construction of the new bridge included work on the curbing, gutters, and paving at the bridge, along with improvements to the approaches to the bridge.