Cortland Standard .net

By COLLEEN SIUZDAK
Staff Reporter
csiuzdak@cortlandstandard.net
Under terms of the draft contract in the ash for trash deal with Onondaga County, Cortland County is expected to bring its solid waste fund into the black, making about $22,660 yearly from the exchange.
The negotiated fee that Cortland County will be paid per ton of ash accepted from Onondaga County is $17.
The contract between Cortland County and the Onondaga Resource Recovery Agency, which owns the incinerator in Jamesville, was released Tuesday. According to financial projections made by a consultant the county hired, Hans Arnold, of Gerhardt Associates, Cortland County will stem its solid waste losses of about $431,000, instead making about $22,660 yearly.
A long-awaited contract
Local residents have been urging legislators to release the details before the deal comes to a final vote, expected in June.
There will be an even swap of ash for trash tonnage between the two counties, according to Legislator Tom Hartnett (D-LD3). The county expects to exchange about 20,000 tons of municipal solid waste for ash at no disposal fee to OCRRA. Cortland County is then expected to get $17 per ton on 60,098 tons of ash, totaling $1,021,666.
The current tipping fee for municipal solid waste at the landfill for residents and commercial customers is $60.
The actual tipping fee is negotiated at $14.50 per ton with a $2.50 fee added on top of that to support recycling programs in Cortland County, according to the contract.
The $14.50 will be subjected to an annual increase of 1.5 percent.
The contract stipulates that Cortland County would not be penalized if it sends less than the expected amount of trash to the incinerator yearly. This means Cortland County does not have to guarantee a certain level of trash will be sent to Onondaga County yearly.
Hartnett said this morning this contract is better than the original one proposed in 2014 because the per ton disposal fee was only at $14 then. Hartnett added that OCRRA was paying High Acres Landfill in Fairport, N.Y., $14 for disposal so he feels the county got a good deal.
Legislator John Troy (D-LD1) said Tuesday he is satisfied with the per-ton tipping fee amount that the county will receive from OCRRA.
“I’m very happy,” Troy said, adding the extra money comes from outside of the county, not Cortland residents’ pockets. “I was hoping we could even get $15 (first) and I think $17 is a great bargain for the county.”
Contract’s finances weighed
Troy said he is glad that the contract is set for 10 years with two five-year optional extensions because it was something the towns requested.
Legislators referred to the analysis done by Arnold, who detailed the revenue and expenses of the ash for trash deal on the county.
Financial details were not released until this morning.
The county paid Arnold a one-time fee of $6,500 for his financial services.
The numbers projected by Arnold show yearly operational and maintenance costs and debt payments for the landfill, recycling center and transfer station. The construction of the transfer station will cost about $1.2 million.
The county is expected to profit by about $22,660 each year.
Hartnett said this morning the ash for trash deal will put the county in a better situation for the future.
“The landfill could not even pay for itself to close the cell, it was so expensive,” Hartnett said. “There wasn’t enough money saved up by the county because they couldn’t do it.”
Hartnett said he hopes the Legislatures uses the money it gains each year to make a reserve account specifically for expenses at the landfill and the recycling center.
Disagreement over the deal
Some residents and officials have disagreed with the financial information the ash for trash deal is projecting.
Carolyn Kennedy, the county’s deputy fiscal manager, said Tuesday afternoon she does not think the additional revenue will eliminate the debt still in the solid waste fund but maybe avoid the county having to take money from the general fund to make debt payments.
She said she is not confident the additional revenue will help with the cost of building a new cell.
“They are not thinking ahead of what they are going to do when they build a new cell,” Kennedy said of the legislators’ agreement to the contract. “There’s not enough money to pay for it.”
Victor Siegle, a Homer resident and member of the Environmental Advisory Board, said Tuesday evening the contract does not take into account the future expenses the county will have to shoulder when accepting the ash that shortens the landfill’s cell life.
The Environmental Advisory Board is a group of citizens who have looked closely at all aspects of the ash for trash deal, questioning whether the deal is good for the county.
“When you use up the site very quickly, then the capital costs each year get higher and they (the Legislature) do not grasp that,” Siegle said.
With the ash for trash deal, the landfill has a life expectancy of 17 years as opposed to 26 years if it continues to accept solid waste.
Cortland County is already responsible for making yearly debt payments for various aspects of the solid waste fund. Total remaining debt stands at $2.7 million for the recycling portion of the solid waste fund and $7.7 million in landfill debt.
Contract details
Cortland County will also be responsible for all costs associated with the landfill and the transfer station, according to the contract.
OCRRA is responsible for all transportation costs.
The deal benefits OCRRA by projecting the company a yearly savings of $800,000 versus what it would pay by sending the ash to alternative disposal sites.
Cortland County legislators initiated the deal in 2013 to help offset the losses in the solid waste fund.
Jeremy Boylan, clerk of the Cortland County Legislature, said in an email Tuesday that additional costs facing Cortland County include building the transfer station as well as unknown costs of implementing new recycling programs and green programs such as mercury and battery collection.
Boylan said the revenue from the deal will help offset the operations in the solid waste program and the recycling center as well as the debt from the transfer station and implementing the new “green” programs.
Financial projections detailed
According to information from Arnold’s report, the county will gain $324,354 yearly in landfill revenues and lose $301,694 at the recycling center.
Boylan said this morning the county is currently losing about $430,000 each year in the solid waste fund. With the proposed $17 per ton, the county will gain $22,660 each year.
Pat Snyder, the attorney hired to help draft contract negotiations with OCRRA, said the overall contract is beneficial to both counties and he agrees with releasing the details of the contract.
“If I thought we could get anything better, we would have pushed for it,” Snyder said, adding OCRRA went to bid to see what other landfills would offer. “I think we have a very good arrangement that’s good for both counties.”

Future action
The OCRRA Administration Committee approved the contract Tuesday afternoon, passing it on to the full OCRRA board to discuss May 6.
Both Legislatures still have to change their local laws to accept waste from outside of their respective counties.
The Onondaga County Legislature must accept out of county municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris, overturning its local law which prohibits the importation of outside trash.
The Cortland County Legislature must also change its local law to accept the ash from outside the county and modify its landfill permit, which is only allows it to accept 44,500 tons of waste each year.
Snyder said the Legislatures also need to issue and approve a findings statement before voting on the ash for trash deal. A findings statement will explain why the county accepted last month the environmental study of the proposed ash for trash deal expected in June.