Cochecton transfer station should remain open

Posted 12/14/16

In his capacity as the chair of the Sullivan County Public Works Committee, legislator Joe Perrello threw down the gauntlet at a meeting on December 8. He said there would be no negotiation over the …

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Cochecton transfer station should remain open

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In his capacity as the chair of the Sullivan County Public Works Committee, legislator Joe Perrello threw down the gauntlet at a meeting on December 8. He said there would be no negotiation over the future of the Interim Western Sullivan Transfer Station in Cochecton. Perrello said if town officials don’t agree to allow the county to operate the station free of charge, then the station would be closed.

Gary Maas, supervisor of the Town of Cochecton, has said the offer of the county to operate the facility without paying for a lease after 2017 is unacceptable. Maas has offered to sell the property on which the landfill sits to the county, but Perrello wants the town to retain ownership, and not to get paid for its use by the county.

Perrello represents the Fallsburg area and, as such, would not be inconvenienced by the shuttering of the facility. But some residents who live in the towns of Cochecton, Delaware, Callicoon and Fremont are no doubt going to feel a bit put out if they suddenly are forced to travel a greater distance to dispose of their household waste.

Perrello’s position is that the county pays to staff the transfer station and provides the service, and it should not also be forced to pay rent. However, the town provides plowing services to the county when snow falls, and that should be worth something.

Further, the amount of money being talked about is very small. The cost of the deal between the county and the town this year is $10,000, that out of a budget for 2017 in which the county is expected to spend $217 million on various programs, services, salaries and benefits.

Counties were created in 1683—more than 100 years before New York became a state, to build roads, protect roads and deliver services. Among the services the county provides for most residents is the collection of garbage and recycling.

It’s true that as the handling of solid waste has evolved over the years different models of operation have emerged. The towns of Bethel and Neversink each own and operate their own transfer stations. Both of those are open only to the respective town residents. The transfer station in Cochecton is open to everyone.

The county operates the main transfer and recycling center station in Monticello, and other transfer stations in Ferndale, Highland, Livingston Manor and Mamakating. According to Ed McAndrew, commissioner of the Sullivan County Department of Public Works (DPW), all of the stations outside of Monticello operate at a loss, and have done so since the landfill closed and the county started hauling solid waste to an upstate landfill.

In October, when discussions about the Cochecton transfer station began, McAndrew further said that the five transfer stations outside of Monticello account for about 10 to 12% of the total tonnage that goes through the county system.

In terms of saving taxpayer money, it would probably be most cost-effective to shut down all of the transfer stations and force everyone to truck their solid waste to Monticello. That, of course, would be politically very unpopular, and would likely spark howls of protests from residents who regularly use the facilities.

Terri Ward, the legislator who represents the people who live near the Cochecton transfer station, has said the county “should not be losing money on this.” But taking that view requires that one consider only the cost aspects of a given situation, and not the fact the counties are supposed to provide services, and the one service the people make good use of is the five county-run transfer stations.

We expect legislators to be mindful of costs, but we also expect them to take the needs and decisions of their constituents into account. We’re pretty certain that if a survey were taken in the western part of Sullivan County, the choice of the citizens would be for the town and the county to reach a deal to keep the Cochecton facility open.

If the Cocheton transfer station closes at the end of 2017, there might very well be an impact in the next election of the Sullivan County Legislature in 2019.

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