by Alex Brooks
The Town of Petersburgh held a Public Hearing at 6 pm on July 21 in the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Hall to outline the Town’s options for recycling and trash disposal and to seek public input on the matter.
[private]Town Supervisor Siegfried Krahforst described three options available to the Town. The first is to continue to use the Berlin Transfer Station. Berlin’s most recent offer to Petersburgh is to lower the monthly rent from $1,000 per month to $700 per month and continue the revenue-sharing from recycling income as before. Krahforst estimated the net annual cost of this option at $28,400. This is $44.30 per household.
Option 2 is to establish a new transfer station for the Town of Petersburgh. He estimated the annual cost of this option at $51,000 and the revenue from tickets, permits and recycling at $29,000, leaving a net cost of $22,000 annually.
The third option is to re-activate membership in the Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority and have them contract with a hauler for curbside pickup throughout the Town. This option would require each household to pay about $350 per year on their tax bill or about $30 per month. If the Town chooses this option, individual households would not have the ability to opt out – every household must pay the fee whether they use the service or not.
Regarding Option 2, Krahforst said he already had a permit from DEC to put the transfer station up by the landfill where it used to be. He said the Town Highway crew would set up the ramps and driveways needed to implement this option. A small building would be put on the site so the attendant could stay warm in winter, but no roof over the dumpsters is planned. Krahforst said the dumpster to be used has a cover over it, with access doors for putting the garbage and recycling in it. He said he had planned that it would be open the same hours as the Berlin transfer station and there would be one attendant there.
Resident Charles Guntner said he was concerned that this option may prove to be a significant burden on the Supervisor, considering the financial, regulatory and logistical demands of running a transfer station.
Matt Curley, Executive Director of the Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority, was on hand to discuss option three. He said he couldn’t provide an exact figure for what curbside pickup would cost because they would put it out to bid only if the Town chose that option. Krahforst said he had spoken to the Supervisor of Pittstown, which uses a similar system and he said the cost per household is around $325 to $340 per household per year. Krahforst said he believes Petersburgh is similar to Pittstown and so the cost would be similar.
Curley said because membership in ERCSWMA is included in this option, it would provide additional benefits, such as hazardous waste collection days and spring cleaning disposal days.
Cecilia Guntner multiplied the $350 figure for this option by the 641 households in Petersburgh, and was amazed to find that the total cost of this option would be about $225,000 annually. She thought that was an awful lot of money to spend compared to the other options.
There were about 25 Petersburgh residents in attendance, and towards the end of the hour a vote was taken on which option they preferred. Sixteen voted to continue with Berlin, three voted for Petersburgh to set up its own transfer station and five voted for curbside pickup. The vote is not binding. Supervisor Krahforst said the Town Board will vote at the August meeting to decide the matter. He said Petersburgh residents who were unable to attend this meeting could stop by the Town Hall and fill out a ballot expressing their preference among the three options.[/private]