May 13, 2015
Ash financials questioned by residents, legislators
Cortland County legislators agreed Tuesday to show a local resident’s financial projections for the ash for trash deal to the county’s consultant who did a separate analysis. They will attempt to resolve any potential discrepancies between the two findings.
The contract between Cortland County and the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, which owns the incinerator in Jamesville, was released last month after almost two years of negotiations. The deal involves sending up to 35,000 tons of trash to OCRRA in exchange for about 90,000 tons of ash to be disposed of at the Cortland County landfill.
According to financial projections made by a consultant the county hired, Hans Arnold, of Gerhardt Associates, Cortland County will stem its annual solid waste losses of about $431,000. Cortland County legislators have said they expect about $1.1 million annually in revenue from the ash disposal fees. Officials say it is a positive move for the county.
The county expects to have the fund be in the black by about $22,660 yearly, taking into consideration annual debt payments and other operational costs.
During a Solid Waste Committee meeting Tuesday morning, Victor Siegle, a Homer resident and a member of the Environmental Advisory Board, showed discrepancies in the financial analysis given to the Legislature by Gerhardt. The board is an independent group of citizens that has been looking closely at different aspects of the ash for trash deal.
Both Siegle’s and Gerhardt’s analyses are based on numbers that were taken from the contract, which shows Cortland County getting $17 per ton of ash from OCRRA.
Siegle said although Gerhardt’s analysis shows a gain of $22,660 in the solid waste fund, he believes Gerhardt is underestimating the future costs of landfill operations.
Siegle projects that total annual revenues in the solid waste fund will be approximately $2.6 million but the total costs will be $3.6 million with a loss of almost $1 million a year.
“It’s overwhelming,” Siegle said during the meeting. “There’s too much left out.”
Siegle said during the meeting the two biggest cost discrepancies in Gerhardt’s analysis include leachate disposal, which would cost $300,000 per year at the Cortland Wastewater Treatment Plant, and incorrect capping and post-closure costs that would be paid over the life of the landfill. Gerhardt’s analysis showed those capping and post-closure costs would be $73,975 per year while Siegle’s calculations show the cost to be $381,922, a difference of over $307,000.
Siegle added he would like to see explanations of Gerhardt’s analysis, since they were not included.
“All financial estimates should have been completed before the expensive environmental review of ash for trash began,” Siegle said in an editorial in the Cortland Standard printed Tuesday.
“Instead, Cortland’s Legislature releases different numbers and a different story every few months.”
Legislator Jim Denkenberger (R-Cuyler, Solon, and Truxton) said during the meeting that if there is a discrepancy, questions should be answered before making a final decision on the entire deal.
“If you can’t resolve a million dollar difference ... we’ll never know how we’ll pay for this,” Denkenberger said. He agreed that Gerhardt should review Siegle’s numbers.
“If he’s right, can we take this chance?” Denkenberger said.
Legislator John Troy (D-LD1) defended Gerhardt’s numbers during the meeting, saying he does not disagree with Siegle’s numbers but he said Siegle’s position on the ash for trash deal may skew his perception of the financial projections.
Troy, however, agreed with reviewing the discrepancy Siegle presented between his numbers and the analysis done by Gerhardt to make sure the county would benefit from the ash for trash deal.
Chair of the Solid Waste Committee, Tom Hartnett (D-LD3), said after the meeting he would like to see a comparison of the two sets of numbers. But Hartnett said he is going with the analysis done by Gerhardt since that is what the county paid the firm to do.
“If we’re wrong ... then OK, we’ll step back and look at it,” Hartnett said. “But if we’re right, I think we should move forward.”
A special meeting of the Solid Waste Committee will be held at 2 p.m. May 26 to discuss the details of the ash for trash contract, the findings statement and a proposed local law that would allow outside material into the county landfill. Gerhardt Associates will be present to answer questions. The Legislature could adopt those three items at a special meeting on June 4.
“Victor did a great job ... he’s taken an initiative to do this,” Hartnett said. “But I’m going on what we got from people we paid to do it and that’s what I’m going on.”
Siegle said the best option for Cortland County would be to increase recycling efforts, preserve the life of the landfill, and have space available to build a new cell if needed.
“The only big deciding factor is shortening the landfill life ... which is a big mistake,” Siegle said. “The only one (alternative) that really works out is increased recycling.”
A citizens committee is being created by the Legislature to look into recycling measures residents can take to increase recycling efforts.
Legislature Chairman Don Boyden said in the Solid Waste Committee meeting Tuesday morning he would select the citizens to be on the committee. This committee would be in charge of reviewing the current situation, researching new methods and then recommending ideas to the Solid Waste Committee for consideration.
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