LEGISLATURE STUFF - An Overhaul of Overly Hauling

CATSKILL - The little ol’ transfer station in the town of Windham is going bigtime following passage of a resolution by the Greene County Legislature, earlier this week.

Lawmakers authorized an agreement with Barton & Loguidice engineering for professional services on a massive makeover at the site, following a recommendation from county highway superintendent Scott Templeton.

While the measure still has to be okayed by the full board, later this month, it is expected to be approved, having unanimously breezed through a Public Works committee meeting, this past Monday night.

If ultimately accepted, the resolution sets aside a maximum of $268,500 for the expertise of Barton& Loguidice, an Albany-based firm listed on the county’s regular roster of potential engineering contractors.

Windham’s transfer station, along Mitchell Hollow Road, will be undergoing a significant upgrade, transforming what is a relatively quaint residential garbage drop-off/recycling center into a modern, direct-haul station.

Making it a direct-haul spot, “will result in major savings in both time and money,” Templeton said, providing staggering numbers for lawmakers.

Last year, the county made 375 round trips, 42 miles each, totaling 15,000 miles, transporting trash to Catskill from Windham for re-handling and sorting before trucking it to an enormous, western New York landfill..

Those local trips will be eliminated, instead hauling directly from Windham to the beautiful-sounding Seneca Meadows, in Seneca Falls.

“We did this in [the neighboring mountaintop town of] Hunter and it has worked out really well,” Templeton said, referring to a similar project completed two years ago.

Hunter is now, “operating at maximum and Windham is in dire need of improvement,” Templeton said, solving two problems together, letting citizens more easily deposit waste in Windham.

“Windham has to be larger than it currently is but we will keep it as small as we can,” Templeton said, in deference to its nearness to residences and the community’s highway department.

The final cost is estimated between $2 million to $3 million, a tidy sum, although, “we have seen that in the long run, a direct-haul station is definitely a cost benefit for taxpayers,” Templeton said. 

A re-design of the facility, along with all the necessary permitting and logistics, could be completed in 2026, setting the stage for a 2027 groundbreaking,”if the stars align,” Templeton said.

Greene County currently leases the 2-acre site from the town of Windham for $1 a year, an arrangement that may stay the same or end with an outright purchase by the county.

“This is another important difference for the mountaintop. The Windham and Hunter transfer stations are surprisingly busy. It will be great for the whole area,” Templeton said.

Windham, even though it is commonly known as “the dump,” like any of the other three stations in Hunter, Catskill and Coxsackie, is also somewhat legendary for its quaintly rural signage.

One sign that became particularly noteworthy during the pandemic states, “please don’t lick your fingers when giving us money.” A normal bag of garbage costs three dollars.

And, believe it or not, visitors are also warned not to rummage around in the dumpsters containing trash or recyclables.

In other matters related to the mountaintop, lawmakers okayed resolutions connected to a culvert replacement job in the town of Prattsville and the rebuilding of the historic Platte Clove Bridge in the town of Hunter.

Authorization was given for an expansion of services necessary for the

completion of the replacement of a County Route 2 culvert over Gully Creek in Prattsville, increasing a previous allotment.

Lawmakers, this past summer, awarded the job to William J. Keller & Sons Construction Corp., now agreeing to up the cost by $3,247.99, the resolution states, also awaiting full board backing later this month.

The need has arisen, “for the installation of a new 60' HDPE pipe required to prevent storm water from collecting on the adjacent property,” bringing the job total to $501,787.99, the resolution states, transferring the funds from a Miscellaneous Bridge account.

And more time may pass before the mission is achieved at the legendary Platte Clove Bridge on the outermost end of Hunter.

Lawmakers, last year, agreed to pay CDM Smith $208,858 for engineering services linked to a redesign of the bridge, hoping to have rehab work wrapped up in 2026.

However, “we have received a red flag from the [State] Department of Transportation about a rock fracture in one of the footings,” says Templeton, requiring a shift to Plan B.

The famously steep and twisting roadway on the far side of the Platte Clove Bridge is shut down from mid-November through the next spring, putting crews on a tight and maybe unmeetable deadline.

“It’s a short construction window so if we can’t get this out of bed early [in 2026], we may have to push it to 2027,” Templeton said, noting all effort continues to be made to preserve the bridge’s awe-inspiring stone arch.