Recycling was the topic at Monday's meeting of the Freestone County Commissioners Court, and came from two sources, one inside the courthouse, and one from Fairfield resident Barbara Price.

Mrs. Price is listed on the agenda asking commissioners to consider setting up a county-wide recycling center, telling the court that she has intended to bring this up for several years.

"Seeing the article in the paper (The Fairfield Recorder) about student John Horton earning a HOTCOG grant to recycle at the school inspired me," she says.

While on a recent stay in another state, Mrs. Price says she noticed recycling stations that she feels could be installed here. Centrally located, large covered sheds with bins labeled for each type of recyclable material could be available to county residents, but housed somewhere "out of sight".

"I know there would have to be guidelines regulating how to drop things off, and I know we would have to pay someone to haul it off, but it would keep stuff out of the landfill," Mrs. Price points out.

"If it's available, people will do it, they do care about the environment," she adds. "Just think about it."

Freestone county treasurer Kay Barger told commissioners that she has been in touch with Fairfield high school math teacher Nicole Crawford, who recycles at FHS, and has been recycling paper in her office since May. She also took 35 old computers to Goodwill.

In her report, Mrs. Barger says her office has recycled 12,410 pounds of paper to date by mobile shredding, and taking paper, on her own time, to a Waco recycling center.

"It's a small project, but every little bit helps," she says.

The recycled computers are headed to a project sponsored by Dell Computers, who takes the old equipment and rebuilds it, then offers the rebuilt equipment to people who could not otherwise afford it.

The recycling bug first hit Fairfield high school student John Horton and math teacher Nicole Crawford last year, and the two begin recycling around the school. When Horton and Mrs. Crawford pursued, and earned, funding to expand the program, the teacher and student took the school recycling district wide.

Currently in Fairfield, the only items that can be recycled are plastic bags at Brookshire Brothers, and aluminum cans, which raises funds for Fairfield Lions Club. A scrap metal business in Fairfield also keeps that product from going into the landfill.

County commissioners listened to a few more comments about a possible recycling center, and county judge Linda Grant said, "We'll work on that."

New Leash on Life representatives Cindy Phillips and Sharon Speering thanked county commissioners for their support of the animal shelter, and asked if the county would allow the organization to choose other veterinarians, as well as those currently on the list.

NLOL has been researching pricing, and have located better prices at other vet offices. They also want the county's backing in picking up adoptable county animals at Fairfield veterinarian Jess Adkins office daily, "without paying the high prices for shots and wormers".

Volunteers would like to hold the animals in their own pens, administer the shots, wormer and flea and tick control and watch them for 72 hours, saving the county and city quite a bit of money.

Invoices researched at the City of Fairfield have made the group aware of the costs being paid to take the animals and care for them at the veterinarian's office. "It would seem the stray business could be bringing in close to $100,000 per year, give or take (to the Fairfield vet)," Mrs. Speering says.

Money saved would build better kennels and housing for the animals, and help pay for food and supplies.

County judge Linda Grant told the volunteers that there is no stipulation in their contract as to what veterinarian is used, and that they are free to make the decision themselves.

Also at Monday's meeting, commissioners voted to purchase a storage building and work shop for the Freestone County Extension Service. Bids were received from McLeod Construction, $16,000, and Lide Construction, $14,600, with electrical service costing about $2,700.

Commissioners agreed on the Lide bid, for which most of the cost will come from the extension service budget.