Dodge County is planning to build a ReUse Center near the transfer station. Funds from a Greater Minnesota Recycling and Composting Grant through the MN Pollution Control Agency will be used to help build the facility.

Rita Cole, Asst. Waste Management Administrator, Dodge County Environmental Services explained that a main goal for Environmental Services is to promote waste reduction. One way to do this is to take items from the waste stream that are still reusable.

“We are hoping to reduce the amount of material sent to the Waste-to-Energy Facility in Rochester by at least 15% and to extend the life of gently used items that would otherwise end up in the trash,” she said.

Rita explained, “We are currently working with the City of Kasson and the County Engineer to get the 16^th St. project between Trunk Highway 57 and County Rd 21 finished as soon as possible so we can have access to the area where the ReUse Center will be built. There will be a new building on the south side of the new 16^th St. project on county owned land. The proposed facility will be a drop-off location for acceptable items for the Rochester ReStore. That store is affiliated with the Two Rivers Habitat for Humanity that serves Dodge, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha, and Waseca Counties. The Rochester ReStore accepts usable/new building materials, and some household goods and furniture that are in very good condition. Two-thirds of the building in Dodge County will be designated for accepting items (probably for a small fee) for resale at the Rochester ReStore. The donations manager at the ReStore has proposed to ear-mark a portion of the proceeds from the material that is sold at the ReStore from the Dodge County location to be used by residents of Dodge County who apply for grant funds through Habitat for Humanity for maintaining, repairing, or building a new home in Dodge County. The other one-third of the building will be for items that are not acceptable to the ReStore but are still in very good condition and usable by others. Dodge County would sell these items for a small fee to help keep the building open to the public.”

Hours for the ReUse Center will be limited at first. County officials are currently analyzing various options for staffing the facility including hiring a staff person or using volunteers.

The grant term lasts until June of 2025 so the building must be completed and the ReUse Center up and running by then to use those funds.