NISKAYUNA, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Close to 200 households have permits to use the Recycling and Transfer Center in Niskayuna with a yearly cost of $120. But there are around 8,300 homes in the town and the supervisor says not enough of them are dumping there.
"We were looking at a very small amount of residents who are using the transfer station and spending in one year about $28,000 that we lost," said Erin Cassady-Dorion, Town Supervisor.
Supervisor Cassady-Dorion says even extra fees for certain trash can't keep the station in the black and wants to close its gate for good. "In fact, if we did keep it open we would probably have to more than double our fees just to pay for upgrades to the infrastructure and then the everyday."
If closed, the supervisor says the 2025 taxes will likely go up 3% instead of 4.5%. Eventually, something else could take its place as the transfer station sits between a park and a sports field.
Without the service, the current permit holders do have other, nearby options. "Maybe the Schenectady transfer station or if Clifton Park is closer. "They're not that much further away and they're just bigger entities so they can absorb costs a lot better than our small transfer station can."
And for the residents who can't have garbage pickup at home, that may be changing. "Because of driveway placement or because of the road that they live on, I'm working with our highway team and trying to come up with some creative solutions."
If the 2025 budget is approved, the transfer station will close on March 31.
