The Chilton County Commission unanimously voted on Monday to move forward in a partnership with Bibb County for a county recycling program.

Commission chairman Allen Caton told commissioners he and commissioner Bobby Agee met with commissioners from Bibb County on April 9 to discuss the program.

“We need to tell them (Bibb County) what we want to do as far as working with them or not,” Caton said. “Either way, they need to know something.”

Caton said after meeting the commissioners from Bibb County he was able to grasp a better understanding of the program and the disposal of recycling bins throughout the county.

The discussion surrounds a grant the Bibb County Commission applied for from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for the project that would partner with the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC).

Under the agreement, the county would allow DOC to place recycling bins throughout the county, Bibb County would collect the material for both counties and transport it to DOC in Montgomery where it would be sorted and processed.

The DOC would reap any financial benefits from the material so the prison system could utilize the material for the use of their facility.

Bibb County needed more population numbers and decided to partner with Chilton County to receive the grant.

The program would not cost anything for Chilton County and the benefit to the partnership would be reducing waste at the transfer station in the county.

Caton had previously addressed commissioners during the April 8 commission meeting telling them that a few Bibb County commissioners would be available to meet at Randolph Elementary School on April 9 to discuss the program.

Some of the Chilton County commissioners indicated a hesitation about the scheduled meeting after initial attempts to meet with the Bibb County commissioners on March 21 resulted in none of the Bibb County commissioners showing up to the meeting.

Caton said Monday he thought the meeting on April 9 was “positive” but if Chilton County did not want to work with Bibb County then a decision would need to be made during the commission meeting so both parties could move ahead applying for new grants.

Agee said he thought everything discussed with Bibb County was a good deal for both counties and recommended commissioners moving forward with the agreement.

Caton said he thought the best approach would be to move forward with Bibb County and appoint county litter agent Libby Ratliff as the head person for the Chilton County portion.

“I think Ratliff would be the best person to oversee this project,” Caton said. “She knows a lot about what is going on with the program and I think she would do a great job.”

Although there is not an exact date as to when the four recycling bins will arrive in Chilton County, or where the bins will be placed, Caton mentioned on Monday that Bibb County had started bidding for the bins and the program would hopefully begin within the next couple of weeks.