By DENISE A. RAYMO
Staff Writer
MALONE — Garbage-disposal fees will go up $5 a ton for the biggest customers in Franklin County, beginning Oct. 1.
And the Malone transfer station will close Thursdays, starting today, to cut expenses for the Franklin County Solid Waste Management Authority.
BASED ON USAGE
"This is a way to save money," said authority board member Henry Travers (District 3) of the Thursday closure. "In this time, you've got to conserve. You can't just keep raising prices."
He said the board considered its options before reaching its decision.
"You scrutinize the days and the traffic and see what is the least amount of change on the people," he said.
The average number of users on Mondays is 174, compared to 160 on Tuesdays, 149 on Wednesdays, 140 on Thursdays, 191 on Fridays and 310 on Saturdays.
"Tupper Lake and Lake Clear are closed one day a week besides Sundays," said board member Paul Herrmann (District 6). "So to even things up, we're closing Malone a day as well to save labor costs. We were looking at a way to cut overtime."
Three full-time employees work at the transfer site.
TIPPING FEES
Tipping fees will go up on Oct. 1 from $90 to $95 per ton for loads of 1,001 to 2,000 pounds and from $85 to $90 per ton for loads of 2,000 pounds and more.
Landfill officials said they contacted the handful of larger commercial haulers who normally use the landfill on Saturdays and told them of the fee increase and a schedule change for them to Mondays through Fridays only.
Repeated Press-Republican attempts on Wednesday to reach those haulers for comment were not successful.
IN THE BLACK
The facility handled 3,477 tons of municipal solid waste from residents in 2008 and 3,584 tons in 2009, according to the authority.
Herrmann described the agency's overall financial picture as "doing very well. We're in the black. We're not as far in the black as we want to be, but we're doing OK."
NEW DAYS
The Brand Road site in Malone will now be open from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The change turns all three transfer sites into five-day operations.
The Lake Clear site is closed on Wednesdays, and the Tupper Lake transfer site is not open on Thursdays.
The regional landfill in the Towns of Westville and Constable is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and closed Saturdays.
"Although administration has considered this change for many years, the current economy precipitated management to suggest this change to our board for monetary savings and increased efficiency," Executive Director George Eades said in an e-mail.
"We intend to handle the same tonnage, but with less expense. This was accepted as opposed to other alternatives."
"After careful consideration, it appeared that Thursday would be the best day to close," Eades said.
'SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS'
The one-day closure is expected to help the bottom line, but he did not have any numbers to share on how much there might be.
"We anticipate significant savings, but we will know when the fiscal year ends," he said, adding that the board estimates tonnage figures will remain the same despite the transfer site being open one less day and the price increase.
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
