Valley Stream ready to solicit contractors for waste transfer station

The Board of Trustees is getting ready to solicit contractors for the installation of a new trash bailer and building at the Arlington Avenue yard, which, according to officials, would both cut transfer costs and the foul odor that occasionally plagues the area.

The current waste compactor is roughly 30 years old, and no longer compliant with DEC design codes that require all solid waste transfer stations receiving more than either 50,000 cubic yards or 12,500 tons of solid waste annually to operate “within an enclosed building or covered area.”

A $1.5 million bailing machine — which Jamaica Ash agreed to purchase — would sit inside an enclosed building similar in size to the incinerator that was demolished about three years ago. A driveway would allow trucks to drive into the building and dump garbage into a container until it’s ready to be bailed and bound with wire into 2-by-4-by-6-foot cubes. The transportation of the final product would still be Jamaica Ash’s responsibility.

The village opted to amend their contract with waste management company Jamaica Ash in 2014, such that it wouldn’t again expire until the new waste transfer station is completed. In the interim period, the village is paying a reduced rate for transferring waste, down from $92 to $85 per ton. Once the station is completed, the village will be locked into a ten-year contract with Jamaica Ash at an even lower rate of $72 per ton. Superintendent of Buildings Tom McAleer estimated that the village processed about 90 tons of solid waste per day.

The village, in its annual financing of capital projects, bonded $2.3 for the demolition of the incinerator, abatement, and installation of the new station — $1.27 million of which has already been spent, according to Village Treasurer Michael Fox. He expected that in the next fiscal year the village would bond at least another $1 million to finish the project.

Recently, a few residents of the Valley Park Estates in North Valley Stream, which border the yard, have complained to Managing Agent Jose Pastrana about the smell and unsightly look of the yard.

“The smell — it’s just a killer, especially this time of the year,” Pastrana said. He said that a portion of the fence along Hunter Avenue has been left in bad shape for years, but that the village did address the area that more closely borders residents of the complex.

“I can’t say that they jump, but I can’t say that they’ve also been 100 percent negligent,” he said. “They just drag their feet. And here, with the [Hunter Avenue] fence — it ain’t happening.”

Though, McAleer insisted that it is happening. He said the materials have been ordered, and the fence is to be patched up within two weeks.

“In the plan for the new transfer station, we hope to replace the entire fencing around the yard,” McAleer said. “We know it’s in disrepair and we’re going to address it. However, in that one corner section, we have a plan to replace it.”

In reference to residents’ concerns about odorous trash, McAleer said the smell would be “almost zero” once the building is built around the new bailer. Barring any unforeseen obstacles, McAleer estimated that the earliest possible date for groundbreaking on the project would be March 2017, at which time, the contractor would have 18 months to complete construction or risk a $1,000 per day penalty.

He said there was a possibility that the village would be able to process trash from nearby municipalities with the new device as a means for added profit, but wasn’t sure that such an operation would occur.