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Dan Hust | Democrat

Teamsters Local 445 union rep. Lou Setren urged legislators and County Manager David Fanslau (right) on Tuesday to save one more county job, but no action was taken.

County inks waste export deal

By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — January 1, 2010 — Another piece of the new solid waste puzzle was put into place Tuesday.
Minus absent Legislator David Sager, the County Legislature unanimously agreed to hire IESI to handle trash exportation.
The contract also specifies that IESI will temporarily operate the Ferndale and Mamakating transfer stations as direct exportation sites until the county can build a new transfer station and expanded Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at the now-closed county landfill in Monticello.
Once built later this year, that facility will serve as the shipping point for all waste.
All the transfer stations will remain open to residents, but their trash will now be shipped about 200 miles upstate to the Seneca Meadows Landfill, which IESI operates.
Costs to the county will include a per-ton exportation fee that ranges from $56-$65.50 depending upon which transfer station the trash is shipped from, plus $650,000 annually to operate the existing and to-be-expanded MRF.
Cost-of-living adjustments will be made over the life of the 10-year contract, which can be extended for up to 15 more years.
IESI will also be taking up to six former employees of the county’s Division of Public Works (DPW), who otherwise would have lost their jobs as a result of the landfill’s closure.
An additional 15 DPW workers who originally were slated to be employed by IESI will instead remain with the county as “solid waste operators,” their $21.98-per-hour salaries being paid out of the dedicated Garbage and Refuse Special Revenue Fund just established by the Legislature.
That fund, in fact, is intended to subsist on the new solid waste user fees going into effect for 2010, plus the increased tipping fees and per-bag fees.
In other business
Legislators also unanimously agreed to hire six temporary correction officers for the county jail and retain an assistant in the Personnel Office and an employment and training specialist in the Center for Workforce Development, but they did not assent to a last-minute request from Teamsters 445 union rep. Lou Setren to save one more DPW job.
“He has always provided good service,” said Setren of the unidentified 21-year county employee.
Noting that Local 17, the union which represents the bulk of DPW workers, struck a good deal with the county to save up to 21 employees, Setren asked for similar consideration with this lone DPW worker under Teamsters 445’s banner.
“Teamsters Local 445 was never offered that opportunity to preserve this position,” he told legislators.
Setren said he was told that very morning that saving this DPW worker’s job would result in the loss of another.
“Well, that is patently unacceptable,” he remarked.
But legislators were unmoved, and as of December 31, the employee has been laid off.

Solid Waste System changes in store

MONTICELLO — Here are hours of operations and changes in the county’s Solid Waste System in 2010
Holiday Hours
The Highland, Rockland and Western Sullivan Convenience stations will be open for regular business hours (7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) on Saturday, January 2 for residential users only.
The Landfill will be open for regular business hours (7:45 a.m.-noon) Saturday, January 2 and the Mamakating Transfer Station will be open Sunday, January 3 from 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m., for residential users only.
The Ferndale Transfer Station will be open this Saturday, January 2 from 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m. and Sunday, January 3 from 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m. for municipal sanitation departments and commercial waste haulers due to the Holiday closings, and will be open Sunday, for residential users.
New Operating Hours
The operating schedule for the Convenience and Transfer Stations for 2010 is as follows:
Highland – Open to residential waste only Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
Western Sullivan (Fosterdale) – Open to residential waste only Wednesday and Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
Rockland – Open to residential waste only Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
Monticello (Landfill) – Open to residential waste only Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m., Saturday 7:45 a.m.-noon.
Mamakating – Temporarily open to residential customers only, will be open to municipal sanitation departments and commercial waste haulers in early 2010. Wednesday and Sunday, 7:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Ferndale – Open to residential customers, municipal sanitation departments and commercial waste haulers Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m. (scales close at 2:30 p.m.) and Sundays 7:45 a.m.-10 a.m. for non-residential and 7:45 a.m.-2:45 a.m. for residential customers.
Special Notices:
The Ferndale Transfer Station will no longer be accepting cash, effective January 18, 2010. Only coupons, checks or money orders will be accepted at this location.
Existing coupons may be used through February 1, 2010, at which point the coupons must be used in denominations commensurate with the per bag fee, or turned in for new coupons reflecting the current per bag price. Coupons may be purchased at any of the transfer or convenience stations throughout Sullivan County, but only checks or money orders will be accepted as payment.
Fee Schedule
The following rates are only applicable for Sullivan County residents. Out-of-county residents seeking to use the Solid Waste system must pay the $85 solid waste user fee to access the system.
The tipping fee for municipal solid waste at Sullivan County Transfer stations equipped with scales will change from $75 to $85.
Sullivan County will no longer accept commercially-generated roll-off containers with construction and demolition debris until further notice. The tipping fee for residential-generated construction and demolition debris and bulky waste at Ferndale, equipped with scales: $125 per ton.
Disposal Fees, effective February 2, 2010:
Individual bag fee for non-clear bags: $4 per bag.
Individual bag fee for clear Bags (containing no recyclables): $2 per bag
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