The first hazardous household waste collection day in Limestone County in years is set for later this month, and Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful is already aiming for a second one in 2021.

It’s been more than a decade since residents had a way to safely dispose of old paint, household cleaners or chemicals and other items. KALB was able to successfully lobby in 2019 for funding from the city of Athens and the Limestone County Commission to support a collection event in March, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the organization to postpone.

It’s currently scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, in the Athens Middle School parking lot.

“We are so pleased that after 11, 12 — I forget how many years it’s been — we are able to do that,” said Lynne Hart, former executive director of KALB, during a Limestone County Commission work session July 20.

She was there to request the commission consider budgeting funds for a second event. The commission provided $25,000 for 2020, and she asked they do the same for 2021.

“We don’t know if we’re going to dip into that,” she said, but “we’ll only use what we need.”

In a typed letter accompanying the request, Hart said KALB would also be requesting funding from the Solid Waste Authority. She also requested the commission support KALB’s overall mission by appropriating $10,000 for the nonprofit when it approves its FY 2021 budget.

In the past, KALB has received up to $17,000 in annual appropriations from commissioners. However, that was eventually brought down to nothing at all in the current fiscal year, and Hart told commissioners they’ve fallen short in trying to overcome the loss of county funds.

Other requests

Other organizations also presented budget or appropriation requests to commissioners in July. They include the following:

• Athens-Limestone Public Library, $100,000 total. Interim director Laura Poe explained in a statement to commissioners that after a $30,000 cut in funding last year, they have struggled to provide as many copies of resources as needed, leading to waiting lists for books. They have also experienced increased demand for ebooks and other resources during the pandemic, she said;

• Council on Aging, an increase of $69,762 over last year’s funding, bringing the total request to about $1.13 million. The request includes an additional $2,700 for cleaning supplies and $8,000 more for vehicle maintenance, plus a renewed request of $70,000 to purchase a Starcraft Allstar 12- to 14-passenger bus with two wheelchair positions. Susan McGrady explained not only are the wheelchair-accessible vehicles mandatory through the Americans with Disabilities Act, COA’s current fleet is so often used for transporting the county’s senior citizens that even some of their newest buses, each a 2014 model, are already in the shop for repairs; and

• Athens-Limestone Recycling Center, $39,260 total.