KOUTS | The town council agreed Monday to lease the site of its recycling center to the Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction District for $1 a year.

The council delayed action on the lease agreement at its October meeting because it was unsure of the purpose. District Executive Director Therese Davis attended Monday's meeting and said the district is trying to update its leases with all the communities.

"The goal is to make all the site agreements current and get into a lease for $1 a year to give the district the power to enact its own ordinance to take action against people who use the recycling bins as a dump or those who are scavenging in the bins, especially for aluminum," Davis told the council.

She said the district hasn't had any of those problems at the Kouts site, where the bins are getting pretty steady use. The site has one large bin for plastic, glass, aluminum and steel and a smaller one for cardboard and paper. She said the district had to add a second container for the latter.

The site in Kouts is located on Kouts Street next to the town garage.

Davis said the agreements with the various communities were originally signed in 1994, when Jim Mandon, now the town engineer, was the director. Those agreements didn't involve a lease.

Council President David Brooks said updating of the agreement might be a good time to promote the site, which probably hasn't had much publicity since 1994. He said the location is not on a main street, so many residents who moved to town since 1994 might not know about it.