Bradford City trash is headed out of state for half the cost of
disposing of it at the Kness Landfill operated by Rustick LLC, city
officials say.
At Tuesday’s meeting of Bradford City Council, council members
approved on first reading an ordinance to haul trash to Chautauqua
County Landfill in Ellery, N.Y., or to any transfer stations owned
or operated by the Chautauqua County.
Tipping fees there will be $21.50 a ton, according to City Clerk
John Peterson.
Trash was a topic of lengthy discussion at the council meeting
as Rocco Camas questioned the council about garbage rates.
“Two years ago in November, I was promised if there was a
settlement in the landfill suit, there would be a reduction in the
garbage bill,” he said.
That money, however, is not there.
“The settlement was less than the quarter million we paid out,”
Mayor Michele Corignani responded.
Peterson explained that in January 2004, when the McKean County
Solid Waste Authority raised tipping fees from $46 to $86 a ton
after municipal budgets had already been passed, the city was
forced to borrow money to pay for the higher rates.
Litigation ensued and McKean County President Judge John Cleland
became involved in the process. Negotiations brought the tipping
fees back down to $48.50 per ton.
The city had to raise garbage rates by $1.25 to cover the
increased tipping fees, Peterson said.
Peterson explained that the settlement received by the city in
October could not be used to offset the $1.25 increase in garbage
rates. He said the Department of Environmental Protection had
guaranteed the city that a Municipal Waste Management Plan would be
in place by April 1, 2005. That plan would allow the city to haul
their garbage elsewhere.
“We budgeted our freedom in April,” Peterson said. “We budgeted
$21.50 for the Chautauqua County landfill. There were nine months
in our budget at that.”
Because that plan was not approved until November, the city was
way over budget paying the Solid Waste Authority and then Rustick
the $48.50 tipping fees each month, he added.
“Without the settlement that was reached with the Solid Waste
Authority, our budget would have been about $200,000 short,” he
explained. The settlement was for $189,625, according to a copy of
the city’s budget.
Camas also questioned why city residents received their payment
books so early this year, claiming they were mailed to residents in
October. He said it was because the city had no intention of
changing the garbage rates and wanted the books out before the
settlement came through.
Peterson’s secretary, Teri Cannon, explained the books are
ordered at the same time every year and were mailed out a little
earlier this year because of efficiency.
In other business, council also heard another round of bid
openings for the Old City Hall interior project.
This round of bids came in at $2,079,336 – more than $1 million
less than when the work was bid out the previous time.
The apparent low bidder for the general construction project was
Mistick Construction from Pittsburgh at $1,398,000. Mistick was the
contractor who did the exterior renovations on the historic
building.
The only bid for the electrical contract was from Pure Tech Inc.
of Bradford at $217,631.
The apparent low bid for the fire alarm and sprinkler contract
was from Allied Fire Protection of Falconer, N.Y., at $122,205; for
the plumbing contract from Anderson-Shortell of Olean, N.Y., at
$183,000; and for the heating and air conditioning, Mazza Sheet
Metal of Olean at $158,500.
Council members and Debbie Huston, project manager for the
Office of Economic and Community Development, were nodding and
shaking their heads approvingly as Peterson opened and read the
bids.
“I’m very pleased with the bids we got tonight,” Corignani said,
adding action will be taken on them at the next council
meeting.
“We’ve worked with four of the five contractors that are the low
bidders,” added Ray McMahon, executive director of the OECD.
In other action, council also
* authorized the city treasurer to open a restricted-use bank
account for designated ambulance replacement funds that will come
from the Emergency Ambulance Service Agreements with certain
municipalities;
* appointed the following people to fill vacancies on the
Historic Architectural Review Board: Robert Baker, Brian McNamara,
Mary Jane Hand and Diane DeWalt; and
* authorized an option to purchase agreement with A Partnership
in Housing Inc. for the site of the former Third Ward School for
$40,000.
