The town of Colonie unanimously passed a resolution abolishing and eliminating several positions within the Department of Public Works Division of Environmental Services, which are positions at the town landfill, and moved to other divisions within the department.
According to DPW Commissioner Jack Cunningham, this will come at no cost to the town. He said the employees will have a slightly different title change but will be receiving the same pay grade. Cunningham said they were temporarily appointed to their positions because those positions have to be posted in accordance to the civil service contracts.
“We’re going to post the position, but let’s say if they’re hired to the pure waters department and they would rather be in Latham Water District, they can post there,” he said. “If someone in Latham Water wants to go to Pure Waters, then I can do a swap and get everyone to where they want to go. There are some people with certain skill sets that we’re trying to get them in certain areas so we can use them to not have to hire outside vendors and we’ll be able to save some money.”
Cunningham said they wanted to post those jobs available to let other employees within the department know they are open. He said all of the hiring will be done laterally, adding they will not be promoting anyone.
The goal is to get everyone in a position before Sept. 19, which Cunningham said is the transition date for when Waste Connections, Inc. officially takes over the landfill. Cunningham said Matt McGarry, acting director of the landfill, will keep his position at the landfill.
