End of the Sullivan landfill

User fee ‘hybrid’ system adopted

By FRITZ MAYER

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — After years of applications, hearings, dueling technical experts and court battles, the end of the Sullivan County Landfill is within sight. County manager David Fanslau said at a meeting at the government center on December 10, without reservation, that the landfill would not accept any more solid waste after December 31.

Beginning in January, the county will be shipping all of its municipal solid waste, as well as construction and demolition debris, to a landfill upstate. All of the county transfer stations will continue to function, and a new expanded transfer station will be built at the landfill site in Monticello.

In addition, the county voted in executive committee to adopt a new user fee to pay for the county’s solid waste system, which will be assessed to every habitable building in the county. As of December 10, a few details remained to be worked out. The fee for mobile home parks, for instance, was to be a flat $850 per park. But at that figure, a park with 100 mobile homes would end up paying $8.50 per unit per year, as opposed to apartment units, which would be charged $84.95 per unit. Lawmakers David Sager and Alan Sorensen urged the county chairman to amend the mobile home fee before the final vote on the measure is taken.

A tipping fee will remain in place at the transfer stations, which will rise from $75 per ton to $85 for solid waste, and will remain at $125 per ton for construction and demolition debris. The tipping fee and user fees together are meant to pay for the entire cost of the county solid waste operation, including the $41 million of debt built up over the years with the operation of the landfill.

Another detail that was not quite nailed down was how much a resident might save by disposing of solid waste in clear bags. The initial proposal was that a clear bag would cost $1 and a dark bag would cost $5. But after a couple of lawmakers objected to such a sharp difference, it might happen that the charges will be changed to $2 for a clear bag and $4 for a dark one.

Otherwise, the rest of the plan is likely to be passed as presented, and the fees will be sent out with property tax bills in January.

Annual User Fees

Residential properties

Single-family residences and apartments: $84.95

Seasonal residential homes: $49.75

Cottages and bungalows: $79.50

Single-family residences with enhanced STAR: $72

Commercial and institutional buildings

Low-volume waste: $350

Moderate-volume waste: $450

High-volume waste: $650

Very-high volume waste: $850