News Photo by Julie Riddle Haley Birmingham, deputy clerk for Alpena Township, recycles cardboard boxes at bins outside the township building on Thursday.

ALPENA — The more Alpena County residents recycle, the better their new recycling facility will be, a consultant told government leaders from across the county on Thursday.

At its quarterly meeting, held at the APlex, the Alpena County Intergovernmental Council heard from Elisa Seltzer, senior consultant with a firm working with county leaders to plan the county’s new recycling facility.

On track to open in June of 2024, the all-indoor facility will stand on Alpena County Regional Airport property and will provide increased capacity to prepare recyclables for sale.

Recycled cardboard, plastic, and other products generate income that gets those planning the new building closer to their goal of creating the facility the region needs, Seltzer told meeting attendees.

Residents have filled the current recycling facility on M-32 to the bursting point, requiring occasional shipments of cardboard to facilities in other counties, Alpena Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Johnson said, fielding questions after Seltzer’s presentation.

“When the market is good, it’s a good problem to have,” Johnson said.

Workers shipped two loads of cardboard to Emmet County just this week, she said.

Such shuffling to other counties doesn’t earn income for Alpena County, but continued dropoffs at the Alpena Resource Recovery Facility do bring in steady income, especially now, when recycled materials are in high demand by purchasers, Johnson said.

End users from across the state will appear at an Alpena forum next week to tell local leaders about the recycled products they hope to buy from Alpena to make other goods, including a company that makes plastic products for the Midwest.

“They’re coming up to Alpena because they want to be able to buy your water bottles and detergent bottles and milk jugs to help make their factory run,” Seltzer said. “More cost effective for them, more beneficial for Alpena.”

Lafarge Alpena plant officials have expressed interest in recycling glass, a material for which the current facility has no room, Johnson said.

A committee overseeing the new facility project hopes to find ways to cater to the needs of Lafarge and other eager potential recyclers now, instead of waiting two years for the new building, she said.

If current recycling trends continue, the new facility will be ready for expansion in five years after its construction, Johnson said.

In other business

Attendees at the Alpena County Intergovernmental Council on Thursday also shared news from their communities, including:

∫ from Alpena County, reports about coming runway repairs at the Alpena County Regional Airport and a stalled Long Lake boat launch project.

∫ from the City of Alpena, updates on a prospective five-story hotel that may be coming to downtown Alpena, the Viking cruise ships visiting Alpena for the first time this summer — which may stop in the city up to 26 times in 2023 — and collaboration with Alpena Township to consider a possible a water and sewer authority.

∫ from Alpena Township, plans for $1 million in state money earmarked for a public school bussing garage site, $15.8 million from a state drinking water fund to go to infrastructure improvements, and a planned two-mill request for road repairs to appear on the next ballot.

Meeting attendees from several other townships told the group they did not have enough to report to warrant the walk to the microphone.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.