As East Williston residents continue to criticize the village’s outside sanitation service, the East Williston Village Board is exercising an option with Dejana Industries to rebid an existing contract.
Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner revealed the decision to “reset” the annual cost of the sanitation contract at Monday night’s village board meeting.
“We continue to have complaints about recycling,” Tanner said after the meeting.
Tanner said terms of any new contract would emphasize recycling as part of the service the sanitation company would provide. He said it’s “disheartening” to see recycled material not being segregated from garbage.
Residents have reported observing Dejana workers not separating recycling material from refuse in making their pick-ups.
Tanner said Dejana could submit a bid against its own existing contract. The village board unanimously approved a new three-year contract last May, with rates at $345,000 for the 2012-13 fiscal year and two options to renew the contract annually with a 2 percent increase.
The board has until April 1 to renew its existing pact with Dejana, Tanner said.
Tanner said increased recycling could reduce sanitation “tipping” fees for disposal of solid waste.
“The priority we’ve putting on recycling raises the bar,” Tanner said.
Prospective bidders can pick up the requests for proposals from Village Hall and bids are due to be submitted on Feb. 5.
At the May 14 meeting in which the new agreement was approved, residents and trustees, including Tanner and Caroline DeBenedittis, complained about sporadic garbage pick-up.
But Wynperle said he would provide the mayor a written response to all complaints filed in the past 18 months and the prior 18-month period as well.
Efforts to reach Wynperle were unavailing.
The East Williston board appears to be closing in on a decision about a house at 8 Sumter Street that has been abandoned by its owner, John Muzio. The board will issue requests for proposals for refurbishing or demolishing the house from contractors at the end of this month.
An engineer’s report from Dean Koutsoubis of Kousoubis, Alonso Associates in August put the estimate of repairs at “several hundred thousand dollars.”
The board had fought Muzio in a protracted court battle to finally get permission from Nassau County Supreme Court to explore options to repair the property or demolish it.
Tanner said “getting estimates is not as reliable as putting it out for bids.”
Former village Trustee John Ferro questioned whether the village board was considering the best option in the situation.
Tanner said the board had not made a predetermination and said “future numbers” on cost of maintaining the structure if it’s refurbished must be considered.
“We don’t know what decision we’re going to make,” said village Trustee Robert Vella Jr. “If we refurbish, it has to be maintained.”
Vella said the court had not given the village a “green light” to demolish the structure. He said he was concerned that Muzio could sue the village if the board was not thorough in examining its options. He said he thinks the village board will be able to make a decision on the house by late March or early April.
Village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff said the court’s charge to the village was “to make repairs to make [the house] stable” or to raze it.
Blinkoff said there are currently $30,000 in tax liens against the house. In the past, Muzio has reportedly paid off liens against the property.
In response to residents questions, Tanner said he is confident that the village would be reimbursed by Muzio for any actions it takes.
“We will definitely get it back,” Tanner said.
In other developments:
• A resident objected to the village board making residents’ e-mail addresses accessible to third parties, such as village contractors. Notification that e-mail addresses would be shared with outside contractors was included in forms the village sent to obtain e-mail contact information for emergency situations.
“The intent was to be inclusive with all contractors,” said East Williston Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente.
Village officials said the need to contact residents in emergency situations – and the lack of a reliable system to do that – became evident during Hurricane Sandy.
We wrestled with ourselves on how to handle this,” Vella said. “Situations occurred that we had never experienced before.”
