County Looks At Alternatives
When Transfer Station Closed
COOPERSTOWN – Since a prospective six-week closing of the Northern Otsego Transfer Station was only made public a couple of days ago, only Fly Creek contractor and landlord in “the magnetic field” of 70 John Phillips was on hand to complain about the inconvenience.
But county Planning Director Karen Sullivan must have sensed trouble in the wind, as she reported she is already exploring temporary alternatives to the trash-dumping hub just north of Cooperstown.
Speaking during the public comment section of this morning’s meeting of the county Board of Representatives, Phillips described the triple hit the closing will cause him:
• One, he is a Dreams Park landlord, which means he has only four hours to clean his properties between the time families leave on Friday morning and arrive Friday afternoon. Driving trash to the alternative site in Oneonta, with waits, would eat up two hours of that.
• Two, as a contractor, he will again have to make a 62-mile round trip to Oneonta, instead of the one mile round trip from Fly Creek to the transfer station. Trash haulers like Cooperstown’s Russ Smith will really feel the impact of the closing, even if just for six weeks.
• Three, senior citizens – and the youthful Phillips went on the record admitting that he is one — will suffer from the inconvenience.
He said he’s approached Town of Otsego officials, and they were exploring whether Casella, which operates the transfer station, could put three dumpsters next to the town highway garage on Route 26.
Sullivan said while that might be more convenient, such sites have to be permitted, and that takes time. She said she was exploring adding dumpsters at an already permitted site in the Town of Exeter, although that’s five miles — 10 miles round trip — from the population hub around Cooperstown.
Sullivan’s office announced last week that Casella will close the transfer station for major repairs and upgrades, beginning Monday, Aug. 21, until the end of September.
