Monday, December 06, 2010

TRANSFER STATION CLOSING?

I understand the Common Council is considering closing the Kingston Transfer Station on Route 32. I dont have the numbers associated with the cost of running this division of our DPW, but I thought I'd show everyone just how much money we spent this summer fixing the grounds around the operation.

As you can see, there is a tremendous amount of fresh macadam throughout the site. The cement retainer blocks aren't cheep either. The man hours alone could have funded dual recycle/yard waste pick up all summer.

So why shut this down now when so much had been invested? If the money was available then, why cry about funding today? The whole idea of having the public access to waste dumping is so the impact on the street is less during the year. Even if there was a minor loss in running the station, the decrease in curb pick up well surpasses the extra man-hours Monday thru Thursday.

With an estimated 1.8% tax increase heading toward 2011, the elimination of the Transfer Station is likely to increase the tonnage at the curb, thus out weighing the savings and convenience for Kingston taxpayers.

Just my thoughts. Happy Winter!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's amazing is that the county is looking at a 0% change heading into 2011 and the city is looking at 2% increase.
Considering what other municipalities are going through, I'm impressed.
Are you having any luck with the Contract Services you wrote about last month? it sounded reasonable to me.

Anonymous said...

I think that this place could be turned into a profit center if it was opened up to other neighboring towns. Why should Kingston residents have to travel out of town to dump trash? That does not seem fair.
The Town of Ulster will reap the benefits of another Kingston's unwise decisions.

Anonymous said...

I have been a resident of this city and taxpayer for 22 years and do not know what the transfer station is. How do/should we know about this? If it is available to the taxpayers or can be used for income to the city perhaps they should.....advertise what services are available. We have always gone to the Town of Ulster. So, what is a transfer station?

Anonymous said...

Are you sure those walls weren't built by County DPW guys? I don't think that cost the city a dime.

Anonymous said...

So we can expect more trash on the curbs, roadways, in backyards and see a brand new facility sitting dormant. Now that makes perfect sense. All the while, Ulster's revenue will increase as Kingston's goes down.

It isn't like Kingston does not have to get rid of it anyway. They will still have the tipping fees, just from curbside.

Anonymous said...

Closing the transfer station will be a huge mistake. Residents already complain about the way the streets look. Many people, as well as businesses, rely on it. It also serves as the brush dump. As of now, no yearly permit fee is charged to dump. Perhaps a small fee can raise some funds to help with the cost to operate it. I'm sure Mr. Landi and Mr. Senor can look elsewhere within the City Budget to find a way to save money.

Perhaps scaling down some full-time positions to part-time or enforcing building code and trash
code more frequently.