Town of Colonie’s landfill plan passed
A controversial plan to privatize the Town of Colonie's landfill to a private company has passed. Town Supervisor Paula Mahan says don't expect to see any major changes despite complaints from people who live there. Our Megan Cruz has the details.
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COLONIE, N.Y. -- Colonie's Town Board votes to privatize their landfill Thursday, despite a number of residents asking leaders to postpone.
Supervisor Paula Mahan says this proposal to privatize has been under consideration for more than a year.
"We've had four public sessions; we've had lots of good questions to help us through some tweaking of some of the contract,” said Paula Mahan, Colonie Supervisor.
But the community said the issue's only been made public in the last couple weeks.
"You have to involve people from the beginning, and that's what's really missing,” said Denise Sheehan, Colonie Supervisor candidate.
Sheehan, who is running against Mahan for supervisor in the fall, asked the board this week to give the community more time to consider the proposal. So did Dan Dustin, the only Republican on the town board. But his motion to postpone the vote was not seconded.
Residents expressed concerns over the supposed benefits of the privatization, a guaranteed $85 million in revenue, according to the board.
Many also said they'd like to see some promises that the landfill will be managed better, but the board says it's all about doing what's best for the town.
"If we keep operating the way we're operating on our own, the landfill will end up at the end of its life with a deficit for the town,” said Mahan.
But instead, the town will automatically receive $23 million just for signing the contract. They plan to use this to pay off the town's debt. Mahan says the taxpayer however, will see no significant changes.
“No one's going to come in and raise the rates too high or do anything out of the ordinary,” said Mahan.
Mahan says all that's left to do is cross the T's and dot the I's. She expects the switchover in management to take effect around October.