The Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District has hired a Columbus-area firm to negotiate a new labor contract with its truck drivers.The district’s governing board on Friday agreed to hire Clemans Nelson & Associates Inc. of Dublin to negotiate with Teamsters Local No. 92.The union represents the four full-time and three part-time truck drivers who handle the district’s recycling program.The three-year contract expires Oct. 31.Negotiating that contract cost the district about $26,000, but negotiating the new pact is expected to cost less, perhaps about $10,000, said David Held, the agency’s executive director.In other action, the governing board approved a $61,027 contract with Freeport Press of Freeport to print and distribute 275,000 newsletters to residents of the three counties.Held also told the board that a first pay-as-you-throw program for household hazardous waste was a qualified success.The program, held May 21, drew 128 participants who paid $25 per vehicle to recycle household hazardous wastes outside of Canton.Final totals have not been compiled, but about 19,000 pounds were collected and recycled in the one-day collection, the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio, Held said.The wastes were recycled by Environmental Quality Inc., a hazardous waste company based in Canton Township.The collection was open up to 200 vehicles. Owners had to register in advance.In the past, the district sponsored four three-day collections for free that typically drew about 14,000 vehicles in the three counties. Typically, about 1,300 tons of household waste were collected and recycled.But the district cannot afford to spend nearly $1 million a year on such collections that were held for 16 years through 2009.Held called the May 21 event “a great success,” for a first-time event with payment required.Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.