MOSA Future

Actually, there's no future for MOSA, at least in Otsego County; it seems that that bridge has been burned. But what's the future of solid waste disposal in Otsego County?

There are a number of suggestions regarding how to extract ourselves cleanly, and without unnecessary expense. Simply asking for a re-do, or taking MOSA to court without objective evidence of the true value of the properties, don't seem like good alternatives. The former has already been done, and MOSA has been particularly unresponsive. The latter will be expensive and uncertain – and Otsego County will, essentially, be paying 40% of MOSA's court costs, as well as all of ours. There may be a way to let the free market determine the properties' value; more to come, if that turns out to be a fruitful avenue of investigation.

More important than all this, at least in the long run, is the question of whether Otsego County should be in the trash business at all. There are those on the Board who answer this with an emphatic “No!,” and those who feel that leaving it all to the free market would encourage monopoly and put a lot of local trash haulers out of business.

A year or so ago, the Board indicated its interest in pursuing a combined public/private approach, where the County retained some control over the transfer station and established fees which leveled the playing field. If this were the result, fees would be designed so that the County would break even. Our consultant in this area, Hans Arnold, has told us that this approach would be economically feasible.

He has also said, when I asked him, that he didn't think that completely privatizing solid waste disposal in Otsego County would mean the loss of any jobs or the demise of any small businesses. But there was a mighty long pause before that answer.


So that's where we are at the moment. We actually have to look at all the options, talk about them, and decide relatively soon, so that we can proceed with the complex process of extracting ourselves from MOSA and replacing it with something – or nothing.

Karen Sullivan, the Director of the Planning Department, will be preparing a training for those of us who don't have extensive knowledge and experience in this area. I'll pass on what I learn, and, as always, please let me know what you're thinking.

“Our Community Salutes”

The Board met in regular session today, primarily to approve the membership of the LDC that is tasked with selling the Manor. One other piece of business was conducted: we approved a resolution to join municipalities across New York State in proclaiming May 18, 2013, as “Our Community Salutes Day” in Otsego County. This designation honors High School graduates who have enlisted in the armed forces.


The resolution itself is full of high-flung language, asserting that they are “patriots” and speaking of “the selflessness and courage they are demonstrating in the defense of their country.”


I've spent the best part of 40 years working in the public education system and a whole lot of that time was spent working with High School students (and their families) who, for many reasons, were not going to get to go to college when they graduated. Many of these kids pursue acceptance in the military in the same way that valedictorians pursue acceptance at Harvard – and I think these kids may get the better deal. The structure, training and travel they'll experience will certainly have a substantially positive effect on their lives.


So I joined the Board in extending my “support, gratitude and best wishes,” and I do wish them all the best. And I also wish all the best to those who won't have days to honor them.


I've never quite understood our need to focus all our patriotic attention on those who serve in the military. Patriotism is more than preparing for, and fighting wars. There are millions of other Americans (including graduating High School students) who serve their country in other ways, making the country strong and resilient – a better, safer, healthier place to live. Law officers and emergency service personnel come immediately to mind. Their jobs are always as dangerous, and often more dangerous, and they serve selflessly and honorably. Teachers and nurses also serve serve their country, and have a significant effect on the lives of those Americans – young and old, sick and well – who they serve. The list can go on: people who devote their lives to service of some sort, in jobs that are hard and demanding and often thankless, and don't make them rich.


So Godspeed and God bless, to those kids heading off to the military this summer, and thank you. And also to all the others who look forward to a career in service to their country.

MOSA Past and Present

It seems that the next big challenge for the County Board is going to be the series of decisions that have to be made about MOSA, the regional solid waste authority, named for its three county members: Madison, Otsego and Schoharie.

Otsego County has been trying to extract itself from MOSA since before I came on the Board, mostly, as I understand, because the contract which binds the counties together requires that each provide a fixed tonnage of trash (GAT, or guaranteed annual tonnage) to the MOSA landfills in Montgomery County. If a county does not achieve its GAT at the end of the year, it pays a fee commensurate with its shortfall; this is why you get a solid waste user fee most years – to pay the GAT shortfall.

Trash tonnage, it seems, has not lived up to expectations, at least in Otsego County. In addition, those who are informed about these things assert that there are many haulers who are not bringing their trash to the MOSA landfill, for economic reasons. This is illegal, as a result of Otsego County's membership in MOSA, but it's hard for landfill operators to determine where a particular load of trash came from. And it's not in the interests of an out-of-MOSA landfill operator to turn away a paying load of trash because it came from the wrong county. Thus, the GAT remains unfulfilled year after year.

The economics of solid waste disposal are complicated and I don't intend to lay them out in detail (at this point, I probable couldn't, anyway). Long ago, when sanitation (or lack of it) was a major health issue, local governments became involved for the good of all. Today, it's not necessary, and in New York State, no local municipality of any type is required to be in the solid waste business (although every municipality is required to have a law regarding separation of recyclables). MOSA made sense decades ago, when it was established, but it doesn't now. 

To add to the confusion, the MOSA administration has been completely unwilling to cooperate in Otsego County's extraction. Our county owns 40% of MOSA, and so is entitled to that proportion of the assets. MOSA took a year and a half to do an appraisal – an epic feat of foot-dragging – and then apparently over-valued the two transfer stations in Otsego County (Oneonta and Cooperstown). Since these two facilities would revert to Otsego County once we left MOSA, their value would be subtracted from the full cash value of MOSA, so it's to MOSA's advantage to over-value them.

And finally, the MOSA agreement which binds the three counties together in the regional authority expires on April 30, 2014. If there's one thing that the Board seems to agree with, it's that Otsego County will be out of MOSA on May 1, 2014, if we can't get out before. And what then?

This post is long enough; I'll comment about the possible future(s) of solid waste in Otsego County soon.

Home Rule

Fracking is a highly political issue, as is any issue that involves a conflict between economic and environmental forces, and in case we've forgotten that, the NY Court of Appeals recently upheld the home-rule actions of the Town of Middlefield, here in Otsego County, and Dryden, between Cortland and Ithaca. As I understand the court system, the only way to change this decision would be to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

So municipalities (in New York State, at least), have the power to decide what kind of industry they will allow within their boundaries. Sounds like a simple position, and it certainly makes sense, but politics does funny things to sense. You may remember the County Board vote supporting home rule last year, when a large minority of the Board voted against the ability to choose for ourselves. 

But now that there's some stability to the notion of home rule here in NY, the rules, so to speak, change. Some have argued that the decision gives Governor Cuomo some political breathing room to approve fracking, ending the years-long statewide moratorium, since municipalities now have the right to decide otherwise.  Others suggest that the gas industry will be less willing to develop drilling strategies in an region that is a checkerboard of differing regulations.  The decision will certainly take some of the pressure off state regulators who, if the NY experience is anything like other states, will not be given the resources to ensure any kind of quality oversight.

I think it's a win for democracy – the kind of democracy that most of us participate in and feel comfortable with: local government. Neighbors and fellow-townspeople will get together to decide what's best for them. They'll know their town, and take their local knowledge into account. They can change their mind if they want. 

Gas and oil companies will survive and flourish, regardless. I have little patience for the argument that we can't make it more difficult for corporations to do their jobs. Inflexible companies will wither, and resilient companies will make adjustments and succeed – just as they have for centuries. Under no conditions is it acceptable to relinquish our autonomy in order to protect the profits of ultra-wealthy international corporations.

The LDC Vote

Today at the Board Meeting, the Board voted to establish a Local Development Corporation and transfer the ownership of the Manor to that organization. The County retains a firm grip on the finances and operation of the Manor, and the LDC's sole purpose is to sell it to... well, we hope to the bidder who represents the highest quality of care in their current facilities.

I offered an amendment to the resolution which separated the creation of the LDC (which would remain in the resolution) and the transfer of the Manor (which would be struck from the resolution). There was a fair amount of debate on this amendment, but it failed, with only John Kosmer and myself voting for it.

I had originally argued that the LDC's mission should include submitting their final choice to the Board for a vote (before the Department of Health process started), so the Board could take responsibility for the choice, like many of us had promised to do. It turns out, according to County Attorney Ellen Coccoma, that this process would trip us into a 215 situation – it would be seen as Board action to sell the Manor, and as such we would have to sell to the highest bidder, full stop.

I'm still not convinced that the 'highest responsible bidder' means what many think it means – 'responsible' equalling 'able to pay' – but I had to go with our attorney's advice, given the time constraints.

The amendment that I did offer – separating the creation of the LDC from the transfer – was an attempt to do the same thing: to allow the Board to vote on the LDC's final choice of buyer. I offered the amendment for two reasons. First, as you know, I'm concerned about the Board giving up its right to take responsibility for the final sale. This would allow the Board to transfer the Manor to the LDC for sale after the successful bidder had proven that it had a high-quality track record. Second, I thought that we needed to have a public debate on this, if for no other reason than to honor those members of the public who have spent as many months working on this issue as we have. I think it's important to note that in all the public comment sessions and public hearings on this issue, only an infinitesimal percentage of those who participated were in favor of the sale and/or the LDC. The LDC/transfer separation was a legitimate solution offered by many of the public, and today it got a hearing.

The final vote on the full resolution was 11-3, with Keith McCarty, John Kosmer and myself voting against. I think we need to sell the Manor – there are no alternatives left, it seems – but I am unhappy with the LDC process, especially the fact that it takes the responsibility from those of us who were elected to exercise that responsibility.