Robinson Is 2016 PMUA Chairman

L-R: Commissioners Jacinth Clayton-Hunt, Henry V. Robinson, Michelle Graham-Lyons

Henry V. Robinson was elected chairman of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority Tuesday at the board of commissioners' annual reorganization. Robinson was a 31-year veteran of the Plainfield Fire Division, retiring as a battalion chief, when he was appointed to the board in 2014.

Other officers for 2016 are Michelle Graham-Lyons as vice-chair, Carol Brokaw as treasurer and Jacinth Clayton-Hunt as secretary.

In a report on the "blizzard of 2016," Executive Director Daniel Mejias said the transfer station was operating by the Tuesday after the Jan. 23 storm, despite eight-foot snowdrifts. Trash pickup resumed by the following Thursday, so residents missed only one pickup, providing containers were accessible. The authority deployed inspectors to check on high-volume users with large containers. The PMUA also worked with the city to dump snow removed from streets, he said, as a result of joint emergency planning by all Plainfield agencies.

The authority is still not able to accept electronic waste at the transfer station and continues to advise residents to see whether retailers will accept old televisions and such when new ones are purchased. Mejias said the PMUA hopes to avoid having to charge residents for disposal of electronic waste.

(More later on the PMUA reorganization.)

--Bernice