Meyer works to make a difference at DPW

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

MONTICELLO, NY — The two most important issues Robert Meyer will address in his first year as commissioner of the Sullivan County Department of Public Works (DPW) are checks and balances in the DPW and the proposed two-fold expansion of the county landfill.

Meyer would oversee the expansion, that is, if the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grants a permit to build Phase II, which would extend the landfill’s lifespan for 20 years.

Meyer and the county’s director of solid waste management, John Kehlenbeck, met for an interview last week. Specifically, they wanted to address a recent paid advertisement in which statements avowed that the county would save money by exporting trash instead of building the new phase.

The Sullivan County Legislature has contracted with RS Lynch and Associates to study the economic facets of options for solid waste disposal, including the Phase II expansion as well as alternatives of exporting trash and increasing recycling. When the report is completed next month, “the county will have to decide which scenario works,” Kehlenbeck said.

The county officially stopped importing trash from other counties in the state on June 30, 2004. Meyer said the Legislature is “very strong against importing.”

Cell 6 is currently under construction and will be available by the beginning of 2006, Kehlenbeck said. The landfill is currently authorized to accept 200,000 tons of solid waste per year, though Kehlenbeck said only about 80,000 tons would be dumped there this year.

Last week, Legislature Chairman Chris Cunningham said, “We’re going to have some very big decisions to make in a very short period of time on the landfill.”

County Attorney Sam Yasgur described projections of the county’s recycling opportunities as “extremely rosy” and warned that time is running out as the DEC deliberates.

“The clock is running,” Yasgur said.

Two months ago, 140 comments expressing public concerns about the landfill expansion remained to be addressed by county officials, but the mass has been whittled down to four, which revolve around disposal alternatives, such as recycling and waste reduction, Kehlenbeck said.

Meyer said that if the county decides to begin exporting it will need to upgrade its five transfer stations to improve trash compacting because it isn’t cost efficient to transport waste if it is not compacted.

The paid advertisement, he said, did not account for the additional costs of upgrading the facilities and adding personnel to handle the increased activity at the transfer stations.

The legislature appointed Meyer to take over the department after several of DPW’s top managers became embroiled in an investigation into their alleged misconduct. Regarding the well being of the department, Meyer said he is making a point to cultivate personal relationships with the 250 employees in the DPW.

“It’s important to have that human interaction,” Meyer said. “Considering the situation the DPW is currently in, I felt I could make a difference.”