WILMINGTON — Solid Waste/Recycling Committee Chairperson Joe Spicer spoke of expanding Wilmington’s recycling program at Thursday night’s city council meeting

“One of the ways we wanted to do that is to go with larger (recycling) totters that we have now, instead of the little blue boxes that you have to carry out,” said Spicer.

Spicer said there would be some cost savings since pick-ups will be performed by an automated truck, and since they’ll be bigger, they’ll be picked up every other week instead of every week.

He also said the city received a grant from the EPA for $250,000 to go to the project.

“The primary goal is to reduce air space in the landfill and increase recycling,” Spicer said. “Our landfill space is filling up very, very quickly. If we don’t start doing more recycling and we fill (the landfill) up before we get a permit to get our construction done with the expansion, then we might be faced with having to haul our trash outside of Clinton County.”

Another reason for seeking the grant money was the sanitation department needing a new truck for recycling, according to Safety/Service Director Brian Shidaker.

“If we wanted to continue recycling, which we do, we were going to have to purchase a new recycling truck,” he said.

Shidaker said the truck was one of the next big projects for them, and applying for this grant allowed the city to explore this and expand on curbside recycling.

Shidaker also reassured residents that the landfill will not be closed and that the city is obtaining a permit from the EPA to expand it — and has been receiving support from the EPA in expanding it. He said they probably won’t get the permit until next year.

Radio update

Dennis Mattingly of WALH gave an update on the radio station. He said that WALH is now a fully internet-based station and they can promote businesses, local events, and the efforts of local non-profit groups.

“With the FCC out of our hair, I can change the corporate status to a for-profit LLC,” said Mattingly. “The FCC and non-profit status was throttling our growth. Reach is exactly what the commercial and corporate radio station wanted to happen to anyone invading their airwaves with something as unique as a community radio station.”

The format will remain the same but the studio will be known as Hendee Broadcasting Studio, in memory of Lee Hendee. Mattingly maintained that the radio will remain as a community radio format.

Also during council:

• Parks and Rec committee chairperson Bill Liermann said that Jermaine Isaac was selected as Parks and Recreation Director. Isaac is replacing Lori Williams, who is retiring in July. On July 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a party for Williams will be held at Denver Park.

• The third and final of an ordinance removing a parking space on North Mulberry Street was read and approved during the streets committee report.

• During the judiciary committee report, the first of three readings was held on an ordinance that would amend Ordinance No. 4823 establishing classification and salary ranges for certain city employees, repealing the ordinance and parts of the ordinance in conflict. The ordinance would be eliminating unfilled jobs and amending certain positions.