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During its Monday regular meeting, the township board unanimously approved a oneyear agreement with Elk Rapids that will cost the township $19,938.60. With about 2,000 households in the township, the recycling cost per household is about $10.

Elk Rapids and Torch Lake townships also agreed to sign the contract this week.

The total estimated cost of recycling for the village is $71,550 and each municipality involved pays a percentage of that based on usage surveys done twice annually, said village manager Bob Peterson. The village has the highest use, at about 47 percent. Milton Township is next with about 25 percent of users, followed by Elk Rapids Township at about 19 percent and Torch Lake Township at about 9 percent.

Elk Rapids Township pays $15,091.31 and Torch Lake Township pays $6,746.15.

Peterson said the amount owed by each municipality is paid in two payments, and after the year's end, the village does internal audit to determine exact amount it pays for recycling. If the total comes to more than the estimated cost, the village will ask each township for more funding; if it is lower, the townships will receive a refund of the excess money, he said.

A county-wide recycling program has been under discussion, and Milton Township Trustee Tom Cole asked if the township would have a say in how that possibility might be funded. If it's funded by a millage, he said the western townships in the county will pay more than their share for recycling. If it's paid for with a per-household fee, it would be more fair, he said. The county can assess a fee of up to $25 per household to pay for recycling.

Cole asked if there was a deadline to sign the agreement. A reason to wait on signing would be to consider beginning a township recycling program, which could cost the township less money. He said there would be potential pitfalls in beginning a program, and he didn't see it as a practical solution.

If the cost of recycling continues to climb, then he would suggest taking a "serious" look at starting a township program. There would have to be a significant cost benefit to the township if it were to withdraw from the village's program.

Dorance Amos, an Elk Rapids Township Trustee, raised the idea of township recycling program at the Tuesday regular meeting of the Elk Rapids Township Board of Trustees.

He said he doesn't see a lot of township residents using the recycling program, based on survey numbers.

Resident Chuck Schuler, a village Trustee, said an Elk Rapids Township recycling program would have to be big enough to allow village residents to use it. Village residents are also residents of the township, he pointed out, adding that villagers pay twice for the program because both municipalities they pay taxes to fund recycling.

Schuler said if the township were to develop a recycling program, it could allow the village's program to go out of business.