Bulky Waste Spills into Finance and Government Operations

An appropriation to fund bulky waste disposal led to contentious debate at Wednesday's meeting of the Finance and Government Operations Commission. The Commission ultimately gave unanimous support to the request for $30,000 to pay for waste disposal.

The debate over the funding and policy of bulky waste pick-ups actually broke out before it was to be considered on the agenda. Mayor Giuliano offered his support for the appropriation during the public hearing, and in contravention of normal procedures, the chair of the Commission, Councilman Klattenberg, allowed a vigorous debate to take place during that period of the meeting. Commission members Gerry Daley and Klattenberg clashed with Director of Public Works Bill Russo and Mayor Giuliano over the need for the appropriation, and over what Bill Russo had told the Council when they voted to change the city's bulky waste pick-up policy. Commissioners Joe Bibisi and Phil Pessina largely supported Russo and the Mayor.

Giuliano told the commissioners that he had asked Public Works to pick up all the bulky waste that property owners have been leaving out. He indicated that while Public Works could pick up the trash without a further appropriation, they could do nothing but store it in the city yard without further funds, "We have no money to dispose of what we pick up." Russo said the problem with bulky waste was not confined to any part of the city, "It's not an isolated problem, it's city-wide."

Russo said the problem had gotten much worse since the Council changed the policy on bulky waste pickup, effective July 1st. To increase revenues, the Council abolished the free weekly pickup of bulky waste in the sanitation district (the central part of the city) and the once-every-three-years free pick-up of bulky waste outside the sanitation district, and implemented a charge of $75 for every bulky waste pickup.

Councilman Daley was incredulous that there was no money for this, already in the Public Works budget. He insisted that Russo had told the Council in May that the Council's $30,000 appropriation for illegal dumping would be sufficient for the entire fiscal year. Russo responded that "illegal dumping" referred to trash dumped on isolated roads such as Sachem Drive or River Road, and that bulky waste left outside a house was in a different category. He said that while an old mattress or refrigerator on the front lawn was a health code violation, it was not the same as illegal dumping.

Giuliano suggested that enforcement of the ordinance would motivate landowners to pay the $75 fee. He pointed out that if the city placed liens on a property, the lien fees and possible subsequent legal fees would rapidly escalate the costs of leaving garbage out, and he predicted owners would start paying the bulky waste pickup fee.

Russo wanted the appropriation to support a return to the old policy of providing free bulky waste pickups, but Giuliano told him and the Commission members, "The appropriation will not change the ordinance." He told the Council members that if they wanted to do so it would have to be done as a separate matter.

Russo indicated that there had been a total of 81 citations for trash given by the Health Department. The commissioners were very clear that they wanted the citations to continue, but that they also wanted the trash to be removed. Councilman Bibisi urged, "Cite 'em first, then pick it up!"

The Commission unanimously passed the $30,000 appropriations request, but even after the vote continued their rancorous questioning of Russo about the bulky waste situation. The debate and questions will likely continue into the next meeting of the Common Council, when it will consider the appropriation request.

Other Items of Business.

The Director of Parks and Recreation, Ray Santostefano, requested permission to take money that had been appropriated for park ranger salaries and instead use it to purchase surveillance cameras to deter vandalism at isolated parks locations. The Commission strongly supported his idea, but denied the request on procedural grounds, saying it would be inappropriate to transfer from salaries to capital equipment. They encouraged Santostefano to return with a request for a new allocation for capital purchases.

Director Finance and Revenue Services Carl Erlacher reported that revenues into the city were holding steady. He said that the city had collected 50.8% of tax revenue for this year, a number almost exactly the same as a year ago. He also said that they had collected $742,000 in back taxes, above the $500,000 that the budget had projected for the year.