Serving the Towns of Wawarsing, Crawford, Mamakating, Rochester and Shawangunk, and everything in between
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Garbage Politics
Closer To A Solid Waste Agreement

KINGSTON – Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency officials ratcheted back some demands in a new proposal for a contract governing the picking up of materials from town transfer stations. The details, which were discussed during a special meeting of the agency held on May 12 at the town of Ulster's senior center and again when the Association of Town Supervisors and Mayors met Tuesday morning, found a warmer reception by those town supervisors than prior, more costly plans.

The newest proposal won't have towns paying for the containers for recyclables, which the RRA can usually sell for a profit, but questions remain over the cost of the boxes for municipal solid waste.

The major sticking point for this round of negotiations has been the need to purchase new roll-off containers and trucks to continue the service, and whether or not the cost should be assessed solely to the towns, or distributed more widely by increasing the fee per ton of solid waste. Board members and staff of the RRA maintain that the towns represent only 8 percent of the total business for the agency, and it would be unfair to make all the users — the residents of Ulster County — pay for the equipment, instead of the smaller number who use the local transfer stations.

Since the passage of flow control into law, all municipal solid waste passes through the agency's Kingston facility. Town supervisors argue that the RRA's mandate to serve county residents is served by supporting town operations, and worry about choosing between raising fees or butting up against the state's property tax cap to absorb the higher cost.

The newest iteration of the deal would have the towns charged $77 monthly per solid waste container for ten years. Municipalities would not be charged for the boxes used for collecting regulated recyclables, which tend to fetch a better price on the market than the so-called "single stream" materials brought in by commercial haulers. While board members have previously sought to force town personnel to turn over scrap metal and deposit bottles, they have backed off that as a provision. The actual contract is for five years of service, but RRA staff were more concerned with guaranteeing payment on the containers, which this does. No town will be required to get the RRA to pick up the garbage, and should one or more back out down the road, the number of boxes being paid for would become property of that municipality.

Either way, towns would be liable for the monthly payments to pay for those boxes. Ulster supervisor James Quigley, who is an accountant, said that he checked the state bid price on similar containers and came up with a much smaller number when he calculated the amortization.

"It should be $37-40 a month," he said.

RRA staffers suggested that the heavy-duty boxes they had priced might explain the difference. New Paltz Recycling Coordinator Laura Petit has previously indicated that she believed the town could save money by buying the boxes directly and applying for reimbursement grants to get some of the cost back. The question was left hanging, with a promise from RRA staff to confirm their figures.

Agency chairman Leon Smith indicated that the board must make a decision at its May 27 meeting if next year's budget is to be prepared in a timely fashion. In light of the unexplained pricing differences, Quigley pushed for container specifications to be provided so that he and his fellow supervisors could perform appropriate due diligence. Marbletown's Supervisor, Michael Warren, noted that his town's financial advisor recommended against signing any agreement which was too open-ended. Staff members agreed to double-check the figures.

Another point of contention is access to transfer stations by staff, and perhaps board members, of the RRA. Petit refused to allow a group of three board members and staffers access for what she was told was a safety inspection, in part because the regulatory agency which performs safety inspections is the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and in part because of the liability created by having uninsured individuals on and around the equipment. Supervisors requested that the RRA furnish a certificate of insurance prior to making any visits to inspect containers, and suggested that worker's compensation policies might not cover RRA board members in any event.

The next meeting of the board will be at 4 p.m. on May 27 at the agency's Kingston headquarters, which is when Smith had hoped for a resolution. Rochester supervisor Carl Chipman, president of the supervisors' association, expects however that the details will take up to a month to resolve and finalize. He said that his fellow supervisors "understand the deal better now. Some supervisors might want to get quotes from private haulers — they have to find out for their boards and their constituents — but I think they won't find a better one."

Chipman is also co-chair of the county committee seeking longer-term solid waste solutions to end the shipments to Seneca Falls, in the western part of the state. To that end, he has plans to tour the Delaware County landfill and meet with Sullivan County manager Joshua Potosek about the possibility of siting a regional landfill.

"If we can solve the problem long-term, we won't have these issues," he said.



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