The Mower County board officially has an online source to help gauge public feedback on a proposed recycling change.

The county has posted a survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/countyrecycling as commissioners mull whether to switch to single-sort recycling or keep the sorted recycling program it’s had since 1988.

The survey asks residents to choose between its current “pre-sort” system, countywide curbside pickup of single-sort at all residential units, or curbside pickup in cities with strategically located drop box sites for rural residents.

Along with the online survey, printed survey forms are available at the Mower County Recycling Center, 1105 Eighth Ave. NE in Austin, and at the county offices located on the main floor of the Government Center, 201 First St. NE.

The deadline for the survey is noon on Aug. 21.

The board is slated to vote on the recycling issue during a morning meeting on Aug. 25 in the county board room in the basement of the Mower County Government Center.

As the vote approaches, the board has received a flood of public feedback — much of it mixed. Some phone calls and discussions have favored keeping the current, sorted system, but an online petition supporting single-sort recycling has garnered 218 supporters.

The county’s survey results won’t be the deciding factor for the issue and won’t serve necessarily as a public vote. It’ll just be another way for the board to gauge public reactions, along with phone calls, emails and discussions on the issues.

“It’s just one extra piece of data for the board,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said.

For more information, people can contact the county coordinator’s office at 507-437-9549.

The issue

Currently, all county properties pay $16 to $18 a year for a recycling program where recyclables must be separated into bins for plastics, paper, and glass and cans, but the board is debating switching to single-sort, where all recyclables go into one bin, as a way to keep more items out of landfills.

Though most neighboring counties have adopted single-sort programs and most indications show single-sort would boost recycling volumes by 30 percent or more, the change would spike costs to as much as $55.36 a year for residential properties.

If approved, the county would contract recycling with Waste Management — the low and only qualifying bidder — to pick up recycling for homes and duplexes. Businesses, churches, government buildings or large apartment complexes would need to contract with Waste Management.

The board could approve countywide curbside pickup for $55.36, or it could opt for pickup only in incorporated cities with eight to 10 rural drop boxes, in which case rural residences would likely pay a reduced fee compared to city residents. Since using rural drop boxes would reduce the single-sort costs, the board could apply more of the savings to rural residences’ bills since they’d receive a reduced service. For example, city residences could potentially pay $48.39 a year for city residential pickup and rural would pay $24.18 to use drop boxes.

Currently, the country contracts with Cedar Valley Services to help pickup and work with the recycling program. A switch to single-sort would end the contract and thus end 14 to 17 Cedar Valley jobs for Mower County residents with disabilities — many of whom have working in the program since 1988 — and it would also affect three to four Cedar Valley workers.

If single-sort is approved, the Cedar Valley contract would end March 31, 2016, for single-sort to commence April 1, 2016.

Sample Survey:

This survey is a sample only. The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/countyrecycling, and printed copies are available at the Mower County Recycling Center, 1105 Eighth Ave. NE in Austin, and at the county offices located on the main floor of the Government Center, 201 First St. NE.

1. Commissioner:  (Select One)

—District 1 – Tim Gabrielson

—District 2 – Polly Glynn

—District 3 – Jerry Reinartz

—District 4 – Tony Bennett

—District 5 – Mike Ankeny

2. Location of Residence:  (Select One)

—Incorporated City

—Rural Mower County

3. Recycling Option Preference:  (Select One)

—County wide curbside pickup at each residential unit (city and rural)

—Curbside pickup in cities with strategically located drop box sites for rural residential units

—Stay the course with the current “pre-sort” recycling program

4. Name:  (Optional)