The Town of Colonie has faced some criticism recently in its search for a private partnership for the town-owned landfill, and the board on Thursday, March 24, passed a 22-day extension for requests for proposals, resulting in an April 22 deadline.
Executive Director of The Climate Registry Denise Sheehan, a former Colonie Planning Board chairwoman and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner, said such a partnership would reduce the landfill’s lifespan and possibly raise the rates for residents.
This is not going to be just a municipal landfill, it will be a commercial landfill, she said, adding that the private operator will be assuming the operational costs and closure costs. `The landfill will be filled up faster, will have its life shortened, and the impact on the time period will be greater. They [the private entity] will want to get as much money out of it as quickly as it can.`
The request for proposal was sent out late last year seeking private companies to form a partnership with the town in operating the landfill.
Since most private solid waste companies would want to increase revenues and reduce the debt it will inherit through the RFP, Sheehan said the company would either have to get as much waste in as possible or raise the dumping rates for town residents.
The remaining life expectancy of the landfill is expected to be about 20 years, but Sheehan said it could be much shorter than that if a private company takes over.
`That could be as much as halved by filling it up quickly,` she said. `Obviously they would need some permits and some approvals, but the town said they wouldn’t object to something like that.`
Rocky Ferraro, executive director of the Capital District Regional Planning Commission, said that a private company would be trying to make a profit as opposed to a government entity, which means it would run the landfill differently.
`They need to increase revenues if they’re not strong, and if operational expenses can’t be reduced,` said Ferraro. `So they would either have to increase the rates or increase the waste.`
He said a government entity can’t increase rates as easily as a private company. Governments also have to be more transparent with their operations than a private company.
`What is comes down to is, ‘Can a private entity operate more efficiently than a public entity?’` he said.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Jack Cunningham said that the permit issued by the DEC only allows for the landfill to take 170,000 tons per year, and that permit would remain the same. He said the main reason for the RFP is to look for ways to operate the landfill more efficiently.
`We’re trying to get partners that have technologies that we can’t invest in,` he said.
Cunningham also referred to the gate rate as a commodity similar to gold and oil and as something that is driving the marketplace. A private solid waste facility can change its gate rate without having to go through a Town Board vote, allowing it to respond more efficiently to the market rate. If it were to make the rates too high, then there wouldn’t be any waste coming in anyway, Cunningham said.
`If you up the rates too high, you won’t have any waste at all,` said Cunningham. `These guys know that. It’s not a realistic approach in a market like the landfill market.`
Ferraro questioned whether the employees at the landfill would still be considered public employees if a private partnership were to occur. With private employees it is easier to reduce employment benefits, making running the landfill more cost-effective.
`As turnover occurs, will they be replaced by the private sector or will they be public sector,` he said. `These are all, I think, legitimate issues in terms of reducing those costs.`
The issue of employment has been discussed with employees and their unions, Cunningham said, and they have all been in favor of pursuing a private partnership. What exactly would happen to the employees, though, has not been hammered out.
`Here are my thoughts, if I was a company coming in to bid on this, I probably would be looking to have my own employees instead of public employees working at a location,` he said. `How the structure of it would work, though, if I said anything, it would be all speculative.`
Sheehan said he’s also troubled by the lack of public awareness about the RFP and suggested the town do a better job reaching out to its residents to keep them informed. There are several issues to be considered with such a request, including an increase in truck traffic, whether it would affect programs in town and the potential odor.
`The average person doesn’t know about it,` she said, `I think there needs to be a lot more outreach and more discussion of the expected outcome of what some of the impacts might be.`
Sheehan has filed with the town several comments and questions about the RFP, and many of the responses noted that nothing has been decided on and a study was still being done.
`A lot of money is being spent on something they say no decisions are being made on,` she said. `A lot of it is talking out both sides of your mouth.`
There has been money spent on issuing public notices, as dictated by municipal law, and on Clough Harbour and Associates to draft the RFP and to go over it, Cunningham said. But that’s what happens when looking into a private partnership.
`We built a budget of $35,000 to do it, and we’re close to the end of the budget,` he said. `If we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do it right.`
Cunningham said a lot of the criticisms of the RFP are just political ones and that it is too early to be responding to some of them as the process has not been completed. The town still has to look through all of the applications and decide which would represent a better operating scenario, he said.
`We don’t have facts to support or refute them` he said of some of the concerns raised. `It’s all a public process and the information will be made public as we go through this. The supervisor [Paula Mahan] said she will not make any decisions that will hurt taxpayers. You can argue with that, but that’s what she got elected to do.`
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