Record-Journal
10-23-2007, 01:03 AM
Three years to go, but already time to talk trash
By: George Moore, Record-Journal staff
WALLINGFORD -- Consultants have recommended that the town, and possibly four other communities, try to negotiate a new waste disposal contract with Covanta Energy independently from the state's quasi-public trash agency, the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.
Wallingford currently partners with four other communities for trash removal -- Hamden, North Haven, Meriden and Cheshire.
The strategy was listed as the most favorable among a number of options by R. Stephen Lynch, president of consulting firm R.S. Lynch & Co. Lynch and consultants with HDR Engineering Inc. reviewed market information to determine the town's future trash disposal options. Lynch and other consultants presented their conclusions and a report at a special Town Council meeting Monday night.
The consultants' report will help the town make a decision about waste disposal after 2010, when the region's contract with the South Cherry Street trash-burning plant expires. In 2010, the company that runs the plant, Covanta Energy, will have the option to purchase it for $1.
While the CRRA currently works as an administrative arm for regional trash collection, Lynch said an approach independent from the agency could prove more favorable for the town.
Negotiating independently, he said, would cut down on administrative costs. A direct negotiation would also "create an opportunity to potentially negotiate a continuation of the favorable PILOT payment we currently enjoy," he said.
The town currently receives a payment of over $1 million a year, known as a PILOT payment, for hosting the region's trash-burning plant. By negotiating directly with Covanta, Lynch said, the town will be better able to get an extension of the PILOT payment after the current contract expires.
If the town does reach an agreement with Covanta, Lynch said, it is unlikely that a transfer station or other waste disposal plant would be built in town.
The consultants' report highlighted a number of other options for the town, such as having waste packer trucks transport garbage to facilities in other cities or towns.
The consultants found that hauling garbage to facilities in Bridgeport or Hartford would have a cost similar to building a regional transfer station in Wallingford.
Another possibility for trash disposal is to use a regional transfer station. In that case, the report states, it is best that the town follow a plan by the CRRA to build a transfer station in Wallingford.
At the end of their report, the consultants recommend that the town consider a trash hauler franchise system, in which the town selects waste haulers. The system would give the town more bargaining power and a better distribution of trucks on the streets, Lynch said.
While the consultants made a number of recommendations, they indicated that much is still unclear about the future of the Covanta facility. If Covanta purchases the South Cherry Street plant in 2010, the company could, in theory, accept waste from other towns outside of the region, or it could simply decide to close the plant. Written in to the legal agreements is a clause that the plant must be dismantled if it is not used for the processing of waste and production of electricity.
Uncertainty about Covanta's future irritated resident Geno Zandri.
"For us to wait until the midnight hour to make these decisions, I think, is unfair," he said.
Lynch said it is "prudent" that the town look at the future of trash disposal now, since time is running short. There is just enough time between now and 2010 to build a transfer station, if that became a necessity.
"It looks like the longer this takes, the more we're at a disadvantage," said Town Council Chairman Robert F. Parisi.
gmoore@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275
By: George Moore, Record-Journal staff
WALLINGFORD -- Consultants have recommended that the town, and possibly four other communities, try to negotiate a new waste disposal contract with Covanta Energy independently from the state's quasi-public trash agency, the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.
Wallingford currently partners with four other communities for trash removal -- Hamden, North Haven, Meriden and Cheshire.
The strategy was listed as the most favorable among a number of options by R. Stephen Lynch, president of consulting firm R.S. Lynch & Co. Lynch and consultants with HDR Engineering Inc. reviewed market information to determine the town's future trash disposal options. Lynch and other consultants presented their conclusions and a report at a special Town Council meeting Monday night.
The consultants' report will help the town make a decision about waste disposal after 2010, when the region's contract with the South Cherry Street trash-burning plant expires. In 2010, the company that runs the plant, Covanta Energy, will have the option to purchase it for $1.
While the CRRA currently works as an administrative arm for regional trash collection, Lynch said an approach independent from the agency could prove more favorable for the town.
Negotiating independently, he said, would cut down on administrative costs. A direct negotiation would also "create an opportunity to potentially negotiate a continuation of the favorable PILOT payment we currently enjoy," he said.
The town currently receives a payment of over $1 million a year, known as a PILOT payment, for hosting the region's trash-burning plant. By negotiating directly with Covanta, Lynch said, the town will be better able to get an extension of the PILOT payment after the current contract expires.
If the town does reach an agreement with Covanta, Lynch said, it is unlikely that a transfer station or other waste disposal plant would be built in town.
The consultants' report highlighted a number of other options for the town, such as having waste packer trucks transport garbage to facilities in other cities or towns.
The consultants found that hauling garbage to facilities in Bridgeport or Hartford would have a cost similar to building a regional transfer station in Wallingford.
Another possibility for trash disposal is to use a regional transfer station. In that case, the report states, it is best that the town follow a plan by the CRRA to build a transfer station in Wallingford.
At the end of their report, the consultants recommend that the town consider a trash hauler franchise system, in which the town selects waste haulers. The system would give the town more bargaining power and a better distribution of trucks on the streets, Lynch said.
While the consultants made a number of recommendations, they indicated that much is still unclear about the future of the Covanta facility. If Covanta purchases the South Cherry Street plant in 2010, the company could, in theory, accept waste from other towns outside of the region, or it could simply decide to close the plant. Written in to the legal agreements is a clause that the plant must be dismantled if it is not used for the processing of waste and production of electricity.
Uncertainty about Covanta's future irritated resident Geno Zandri.
"For us to wait until the midnight hour to make these decisions, I think, is unfair," he said.
Lynch said it is "prudent" that the town look at the future of trash disposal now, since time is running short. There is just enough time between now and 2010 to build a transfer station, if that became a necessity.
"It looks like the longer this takes, the more we're at a disadvantage," said Town Council Chairman Robert F. Parisi.
gmoore@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275