Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted have announced the launch of a new grant program that will provide nearly $150 million in grants to raze dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and, ideally, revitalize surrounding properties.

The new Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is part of the DeWine-Husted Administration’s “strategic efforts to invest in Ohio’s future,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“There are dangerous, blighted buildings all over Ohio that are nothing more than eyesores that restrict new development,” say DeWine. "We want our local communities to thrive, and through this new grant program, we will help all 88 counties tear down dilapidated structures to make room for future growth.”

The Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program was created with the support of the Ohio General Assembly, which funded the program as part of the 2021 state biennium budget bill, House Bill 110. The program is being administered by the Ohio Department of Development.

“We’re attracting companies to Ohio because of our low taxes and excellent business climate, but they need sites to set up shop,” says Husted. “Remediating these properties turns the blight into new opportunities to attract investment, business and jobs.”

“Abandoned and blighted buildings are often hazards in our communities,” comments Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development. “By removing them, we make way for new growth and economic development throughout Ohio.”

As required by House Bill 110, funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. To help ensure that all of Ohio's 88 counties benefit from the program, each county will be eligible to receive a minimum of $500,000.

Commercial and residential buildings on sites that are not brownfields are eligible for funding. Counties must designate one lead entity to apply for grant funds on behalf of the county. In counties where a county land reutilization corporation has been established, it will serve as the lead entity for that county.

The Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is part of Governor DeWine's Ohio BUILDS Initiative designed to focus on water infrastructure improvements, broadband expansion, brownfield redevelopment the demolition of blighted buildings and other infrastructure-related aspects.

More information on the new Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program can be found on this web page.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has expressed concern that increased delays in solid waste collection are likely to occur over the holidays and into January. In light of these concerns, SWANA encourages municipal solid waste officials and haulers to plan now for staffing shortages.

The sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, combined with the seasonal uptick in residential waste and recyclables associated with Christmas, could stress some solid waste collection systems, the association says.

“A substantial percentage of front-line collection workers are not vaccinated, and some may get sick from COVID in the coming weeks,” states David Biderman, SWANA executive director and CEO. “This could make it difficult for some haulers or local sanitation departments to fulfill all of their collection obligations, at the same time that residential waste and recycling volumes increase around the holidays. We urge all solid waste officials and haulers to plan for how they intend to address a shortage in collection workers.”

Many communities throughout the U.S. experienced collection delays in spring and summer 2021, as haulers and local governments experienced difficulty attracting and retaining qualified collection workers.

Earlier in December, Nashville announced it was temporarily suspending curbside recycling collection in response to staffing shortages and the bankruptcy filing of a key city waste contractor. Nashville is reassigning recycling trucks to trash collection to ensure that all trash routes are collected on schedule. Dozens of communities have temporarily suspended curbside recycling collection during the pandemic.

Nearly 300,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported Dec. 22, more than double the seven-day average. The number of new cases is expected to increase for the rest of 2021 and into January 2022.

Solid waste officials and haulers have been dealing with worker shortages, increased residential waste and evolving COVID risks since the start of the pandemic. The increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant will likely result in collection delays in some communities, and SWANA urges elected officials and the general public to be patient if agencies and haulers are forced to adjust collection schedules.

Maximizing productivity is a continuous concern for recycling operations, and the right control system can reduce headaches and streamline processes, says Best Process Solutions Inc. (BPS), Brunswick, Ohio. The company adds that its panel-building department delivers quality controls that allow for seamless integration into an existing system. The department also can custom design a system for a complete recycling line from beginning to end.

BPS says its systems are designed to run with some of the most advanced networking technologies from top companies like Rockwell Automation, Siemens and ABB, and its containerized control systems are built to withstand outdoor conditions.

The company says it also builds recycling control panels for existing equipment or systems and can function as the engineering arm for a manufacturer that wants to take its equipment to the next level by implementing BPS control panels.

 

Bandit Industries, a wood waste and arboriculture equipment manufacturer based in Remus, Michigan, has acquired Trelan Co., a tree chipper manufacturer based in Remus. Bandit purchased the assets and properties of Trelan from the Schumacher family Dec. 22.

According to a news release from Bandit, the company will continue to produce the Trelan products and market them as Trelan machines produced by Bandit. Bandit will use the company’s 45,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 10,000 square feet of storage buildings to continue to make Trelan machines and additional Bandit machines.

Bandit completed three plant expansions in 2021. The company says it will complete two more plant expansions in the first quarter of 2022. Overall, the company plans to spend $16.5 million on capital expenditures in 2022.

Bandit now employs 610 people, up from 450 employees in 2020. Bandit says it has 110 job openings and plans to increase employment to 800 employees by the end of 2022.