Clinton County legislator upset about convenience-station closure

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September 16, 2008

By JOE LoTEMPLIO The Press Republican Tue Sep 16, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- Clinton County Legislator Sam Trombley is upset about the cutback of hours at the Mooers convenience station.

The trash-collection site is slated to close two days a week beginning Oct. 1, leaving residents of the area only three days a week to dump their trash.

The station is now open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Starting Oct. 1, the station will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be closed on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Trombley (R-Area 2, Ellenburg) said the limited hours will create a hardship on residents, who will have a difficult time adjusting to the new schedule.

He worries that trash might pile up at homes and at the convenience station.

The cutback of hours is also hampering Northern Adirondack Central School, which produces a large amount of garbage on a daily basis, he said.

"We've been good to Casella, so whatever can be done to keep these stations open should be done," Trombley said at the recent Clinton County Legislature meeting.

NEW AGREEMENT

Casella Waste Systems has operated the County Landfill and the 12 convenience stations since it entered a lease with the county in 1996.

In February, Casella agreed to keep the convenience stations open at least until the end of 2012 in exchange for increasing the tipping fees for vehicles using the scales at the main landfill in Morrisonville.

Casella did, however, maintain the right to modify the convenience-station schedule of operation.

Landfill Manager Craig Squier said the reduction in hours at the Mooers convenience station was a matter of economic necessity.

He said they studied traffic patterns at the station and determined that cutting back would not adversely affect users.

"We are trying to manage our business in a cost-effective manner and better control our costs, like everybody else.

"We estimate we can save between $25,000 and $30,000 by doing this."

Squier said NAC does not dump at the station every day, so the cutback should not be a problem for the school.

ALTONA, CHURUBUSCO

In addition to trimming the hours at the Mooers station, hours will also be reduced at the Altona and Churubusco convenience stations, starting Oct. 1.

The Altona station will go from operating on Thursdays and Saturdays for eight hours to four hours on Thursdays and six hours on Saturdays.

In Churubusco, the station will go from operating for eight hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays to four hours on Wednesdays and six hours on Saturdays.

The reduction at those stations is designed to limit the amount of money they lose. Squier said that between the two stations, they lose about $270 a day.

"Sam (Trombley) is a great defender of his people, and that is very noble, and I admire that," Squier said.

"But in February we made an agreement with them (legislators) that allowed us to modify the convenience station hours."

jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com