April 3, 2015
Questions simmer over vacant county posts
Cortland County’s search to fill key positions — including a solid waste supervisor and a budget director — has been unsuccessful, while a decision on the proposed ash for trash deal with Onondaga County looms and the start of the budget process draws near.
Cortland County legislators have been receiving applications for the positions but have no timeline as to when they might be filled.
The county decided to create the position of solid waste supervisor at the recommendation of the Bonadio Group, an engineering firm that conducted an operational audit of the Highway Department last year. The firm found operational weaknesses that would allow for fraud or mishandling of money, although there was no indication that either had occurred. The audit recommended that one person be in charge of management of the day-to-day operations at the landfill.
The post carries an annual salary of up to $66,293.
Solid Waste Committee Chair Tom Hartnett (D-LD3) and other officials said Monday afternoon that even if the proposed ash for trash deal goes through, a supervisor would still be needed to manage the landfill. The landfill would be accepting ash and would still be used to dispose of other materials, such as construction and demolition materials.
“You still need somebody to supervise the transfer station and the landfill,” Hartnett said.
Cortland County is still in negotiations with the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency for the proposed ash for trash exchange. The deal would involve Cortland County sending about 25,000 tons of trash to the incinerator yearly and accepting about 90,000 tons of ash yearly in return.
Hartnett also said the county could send construction and demolition materials to OCRRA for disposal, but it would be more cost-effective to keep them in the county landfill.
“It’s just not going to be an ash landfill,” Hartnett said, adding it would be a combination of the ash and other waste.
Legislature Chair Susan Briggs (R-Cortlandville) had said in previous interviews with the Cortland Standard that legislators may not have found a qualified candidate for the position because the ash for trash deal is stilluncertain.
Briggs said Monday afternoon she believes that is still the case, but a supervisor is needed regardless of the ash for trash deal .
“I feel that folks may be unsure what the position will actually be in that we haven’t decided yet on ash for trash or what we’re going to do at the landfill,” Briggs said.
Briggs agrees that a supervisor still needs to manage daily operations at the landfill, noting that the supervisor would assist the county in implementing the solid waste management plan. The plan includes items such as the county’s handling of recycling and composting.
Phil Krey, superintendent of the county Highway Department, said Monday afternoon a supervisor is needed at the landfill.
“We need that supervisor in there, the sooner the better,” Krey said, adding there is constant activity at the landfill with or without the proposed deal.
Krey said he is using the resources he has in the highway department to “keep tabs” on the landfill, but a full-time position would help ensure operations run smoothly.
Some of the duties the supervisor would handle if the ash for trash deal is approved include hauling leachate, monitoring the transfer station, supervising the landfill’s crew, and submitting quarterly and annual reports to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Leachate is runoff from the landfill.
“There’s supposed to be a layer of management between operations and me,” Krey said, adding the supervisor will report to him. “You really need someone up there full-time and ... that the person responsible for the operations is on site eight hours a day.”
Another county position still in limbo is the director of budget and finance. The bulk of this person’s duties would be preparing the county’s budget.
This post carries a yearly salary of up to $95,172.
The county has been without a county administrator since past administrator Martin Murphy left in August 2014 to become the city manager in Oneonta.
Budget and Finance Committee Chair Kevin Whitney (R-Cortlandville) said Monday afternoon that there have been several interviews with candidates. He could not give a number as to how many were interviewed. He is not sure when the county will hire someone, despite the fact county officials want to start preparing the 2016 budget as early as May this year.
The Legislature appointed Karen Spafford, the county’s real property information specialist, as the new real property tax services director at last week’s Legislative session. Spafford has worked in the Real Property Tax Services Department for 25 years.
Whitney said Spafford’s role in the budget process would not be the same as her predecessor Randy Deal, who stepped in to help draft the budget in 2014 in the absence of Murphy. Whitney said he hopes a budget and finance director will be hired soon.
Briggs said Monday afternoon the interview process is moving along “well” and legislators are hopeful they will find the right candidate in time for the budget process to begin in May.
“We did have a very good response,” she said. “We did have a good number of people who are qualified.”
Briggs did not know when a decision would be made.
She declined to comment on how many interviews were conducted.
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