County MUA head unhappy with council's questioning

OGDENSBURG — Ogdensburg Mayor Steve Ciasullo was not pleased with an email sent to the borough from the Sussex County Municipality Utility Authority Administrator John Hatzelis during the Council's meeting May 11.

Hatzelis wrote his chief engineer, Thomas Varro, attended the Ogdensburg meeting on April 27 to “provide information” and “not to be a piñata for local amusement.”

Ciasullo said the Council was simply asking questions, and Ogdensburg was probably the only town that got both sides of the story regarding Cavalier Environmental Compliance Service's application to take bulky waste in competition with SCMUA.

Varro reported Cavalier requested an amendment to the Sussex County Solid Waste Management Plan allowing them to pick up bulky trash such as refrigerators, couches, and microwaves. He also said that 18 percent of SCUMA's business is bulky waste.

Other municipalities such as Stanhope, Hopatcong, Byram, Lafayette, Andover, and Branchville passed resolutions saying that Cavalier should not pick up bulky waste. Without bulky waste, the county MUA could lose $2.4 million.

In order to make up lost revenue, Varro said SCMUA might charge municipalities higher tipping fees of garbage per ton. Currently, Ogdensburg is charged $96/ton. If there were an increase of $6/ton, the hit to Ogdensburg could be $5,100; $12 increase/ton: $10,000; $24 ton increase: $20,000.

Councilman Robert McGuire countered with an illustration of two bagel shops competing and thus, resulting in lower prices and a better product for the consumer. He did not see anything wrong with competition.

Varro explained that if SCMUA does not make its debt service payment, the county could possibly raise taxes, because they back SCMUA's bonds.

Next, Jarrod Cofrancesco, the general counsel to Grinnell Recycling, Inc., spoke on behalf of Cavalier. Cavalier would accept bulky waste on Grinnell's site. Cofrancesco said Cavalier could take bulky waste more cheaply than SCMUA, which would in turn benefit Sussex County residents.

He also said that the SCMUA's numbers are “threatening,” and private industry is “just now catching up to them,” because they “need to tell the other side of the story.”

One advantage is that Cavalier is not bound by SCMUA's big debt, which Cofrancesco said is causing them to function less efficiently than a private entity.