PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE

Special Meeting

December 12, 2011

 

** NOT APPROVED **

Present:          D. Fanton, T. Hopkins, M. Healy, N. Ungermann, C. Crandall

                        (Absent: T. O’Grady, A. McGraw, P. Curran)

 

Others Present:          D. Scholes, D. Roeske, T. Palmiter, J. Margeson, M. Alger, K. Graves,

K. LaForge, F. Sinclair, D. Pullen

 

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order by Committee Chairman Fanton at 11:00 a.m.

 

 

Dean Scholes, Deputy Superintendent II

Deputy Superintendent II, Dean Scholes introduced Tim Palmiter, Recycling Coordinator to the Public Works Committee. 

 

Mr. Scholes brought the Committee up to date on the accomplishments the department has achieved this past year:

 

·         Completed Phase II of the Landfill Closure- Cells 4 & 5

·         Prepared to cap Cells 6 & 7 – Phase III

·         Opened the NW & SW Quadrants of Cell 9

·         Phase III Closure was bid and rejected- will rebid in January 2012

·         County received variance from NYSDEC to place 12” of cover over Cells 6 & 7.  This saved the county time and money.

·         Surveyed compaction rate is at 70%

·         To date this year the County has hauled 5,502,446 gallons of leachate compared to 4,170,562 gallons in 2010.

·         NYS inspections have gone well all year.

·         Quarterly and Annual Water Inspections are good- nothing to report

·         Purchased a new trailer capable to hauling more which will reduce the number of trips and saving in fuel costs.

·         The Scale House took a direct hit by lightning this summer causing damage to scale, fuel system, computers and phones.  It took us a while but the damages are repaired and were covered by insurance.

·         New signage has been installed at many of the locations and the department will continue this in 2012.

·         Traffic patterns were reconfigured and new striping placed at the Landfill and Wellsville Transfer Station and is working well. 

 

Mr. Scholes informed the Committee 1.79 million was budget in revenues for 2011 and it looks at this point the department will be approximately $50,000 short.  Mr. Scholes pointed out however that on the recycling end of the revenues, thanks to Tim Palmiter revenues is up.  $100,000 in revenues was budgeted for 2011 to date, the County has received $132,000.

 

Mr. Scholes also reported appropriations are fairly good however, hauling away extra leachate this spring cut hard into the budget.  Legislator Healy questioned why the leachate was so high this year.  Mr. Scholes explained it was an especially wet spring. 

 

Mr. Ungermann asked how well the scale was grounded and offered some suggestions for improvement. 

 

Tim Palmiter, Recycling Coordinator

Mr. Palmiter explained to the Committee it is hard to increase recycling revenues so the department has been focusing on reducing expenditures.  Some of the changes that have been made are:

 

·         Increased the size of the containers

·         Colored glass used to be hauled in 55 gallon drums in the back of a pickup truck.  Now we are using recycling containers at some of the stations for some additional material. With that, we have gone from 2 or 3 trips a month from one individual transfer station to about once every 8 months.

·         Starting in October we started getting paid for our electronics recycling.  Originally it was at no cost to us but we were not receiving any revenue.  At the current time we are receiving approximately $60/ton with estimated revenues of $3,000/month.

·         In the past since there was no revenue from electronics we did not allow business to recycle with us, we are now developing a business recycling program.

 

John Margeson asked if there was storage for the electronics so that we could hang onto them until the market went up.  Mr. Palmiter explained there is not much storage capacity for the recyclables.  There is now an old tractor trailer at the Friendship Transfer Station that can hold 10 pallets and 8 pallets can be stored in the transfer station.  At the moment, we ship out 10 pallets every three weeks.   Mr. Ungermman questioned if they could be stored outside.  Mr. Palmiter explained even if we wrapped the pallets differently so they could be stored outside, again, there is no room for storage.

 

Mr. Palmiter stated RFP’s will go out in January for recycling contracts.  These contracts will take effect April 1.

 

Other Business

Legislator Ungermann suggested the department work on making Landfill be more “customer friendly” for commercial haulers who go directly to the working face to dispose of their loads.  Legislator Ungermann suggested staggered coffee breaks and lunch hours.  Mr. Scholes said he did not agree with Mr. Ungermann’s assessment but they would take a look at addressing Mr. Ungermann’s concerns.  Mr. Scholes stated he is very proud of the employees who work at the Landfill.  Mr. Scholes explained how that staff have gone above and beyond this past year to keep things going and to save the tax payers money.

Legislator Sinclair questioned if the County is still paying a fee to the NYS DEC for inspections.  Mr. Scholes replied the County pays approximately $30,000 each year. 

 

Adjournment

Committee Chairman Fanton adjourned the meeting at 12:25 a.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted:

Lea Dorrett

Secretary to the Superintendent