Efforts to privatize the town's transfer station have been abandoned, Mayor Scott Jackson's Chief Administrative Officer Curt Leng told the Legislative Council this week.
Last year Jackson indicated a desire to bring in an outside company to run the station after problems arose there, and had been trying to strike an agreement with Trash Master, the company that collects residential garbage and recyclables, to run it.
Also at that time the operation of the Lou Astorino Rink was privatized but the State Labor Board recently ruled that was done illegally and the town must bring back the four town employees who lost their jobs because of it.
"The transfer station is coming to a very sound resolution," Leng said. "I want to thank the Public Works Union for working with the town over the last several months crafting this money-saving agreement."
Beginning next year, the new agreement is expected to save the town $150,000, Leng said, and improve service at the station, including added hours two Saturdays a month. The station will be run with three employees rather than the five that have worked there in the past.
"The short term message to the public is the transfer station is open for business and run at a lower cost," he said. "It's a win-win for the town."
But what will happen with the displaced rink workers is still being determined, Leng said. The town is appealing the Labor Board's ruling. Read more about it .
"Negotiations and discussions with the union are ongoing," Leng said. "The council will get the recommendations which will be submitted in July to [the council]."
In response to a resident's question, Leng said that he wasn't sure who receives quarterly reports that MAB Rink Management are required to submit to the town.
Under the agreement with MAB, the town gets a percentage of the profit received from running the rink. But the resident said she couldn't find anyone in Town Hall who knew anything about the reports.
"I would expect you would be watching the reports closely," the woman told the council, "but no one seems to care."
"We don't have an invoicing department who would be charged with reviewing the reports," Leng said. "We try to do our best."
"The administration needs to designate someone to receive the quarterly reports," council president Jim Pascarella said.
