By Nancy Peckenham
Newburgh City Council members have too many questions about a proposed 20-year contract with Taylor Biomass to authorize the city manager to negotiate the details of a contract now. After voting 3-to-2 against the move on Monday, council members decided to have a meeting with the head of the company to see if they can get answers.
Taylor Biomass is offering all Orange County municipalities that haul their own trash to sign an agreement to take their trash to its new state-of-the-art facility that comes on line in January 2013. The new facility will process the trash to convert it to electrical energy.
The company is simultaneously negotiating with Orange County officials on a separate deal that would allow the county to charge municipalities for taking trash to Taylor. While the county deal is not final, Newburgh Mayor Nick Valentine told the council that he learned the county would charge $79 a ton for trash. Taylor is offering the city a rate of $66 a ton, a fee that could increase annually under the terms of the proposal.
Mayor Valentine argued in favor of moving ahead with the negotiations immediately, citing the potential cost-savings to the city if it acted now. “We will be paying approximately $15 more a ton,” Valentine said. “It’s up to the council to see if they want to save.”
City council member Marge Bell objected to the pressure she says Taylor officials are putting on the city to negotiate its own agreement by July 22nd. Jim Taylor, the president of the company, appeared at the last two council meetings and said he would agreeable to another meeting to answer the council’s questions.
The contract proposed by Taylor Biomass is available on the city website at www.cityofnewburgh-ny.gov.
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