Republicans Trash Recycling Plan

A Republican overhaul of the $3.6 million budget for East Hampton Town's garbage district would reduce Democratic Supervisor Cathy Lester's much-criticized 40-percent hike in the trash tax by about $8 for the average household.

A family with a house valued at $7,000, the average assessment, paid $117 this year and would pay $164 under the Supervisor's budget. The trash tax constitutes more than a 10th of the overall town tax rate.

The recycling plants in East Hampton and Montauk would be closed on Wednesdays.

Councilman Len Bernard has drafted a plan for the Republican majority on the Town Board that would, as promised, do away with the six new Sanitation workers Supervisor Lester hoped to hire, shut the recycling and composting plants on Springs-Fireplace Road and the Montauk transfer station on Wednesdays and additional holidays, and eliminate the job of town recycling coordinator, held by Peter Garnham.

Focus On Hauling

It would also continue to shift the recycling program's focus away from trying to attract the highest price for recyclables - the highly volatile commodities market took a nosedive this year - to paying a carter to haul away the materials, to recycle them or not.

Overall, Mr. Bernard's plan would subtract $187,555 from the Solid Waste Tax District's budget plus "a certain amount of unquantifiable savings from comp time," he said.

"It's not a lot, but you have to look at this as an overall redirection of town government. You have to look at the whole picture," said Mr. Bernard.

Lester Vs. Bernard

The G.O.P. operational overhaul has been sharply criticized by Supervisor Lester as anti-recycling. Mr. Bernard was reportedly infuriated on Friday by a front-page article in The Star that outlined her criticisms and another describing morale problems in the Sanitation Department.

During Tuesday's work session, called so the board could continue to discuss the budget, Ms. Lester told Mr. Bernard she had heard him yelling at David Paolelli, the town environmental facilities manager, from the other side of Town Hall. He said he thought his office door had been closed.

Baling Will Cease

"Your goal is to see the facility not operate. There is no one in the composting plant. There is no one on the tipping floor. You have skeletonized the employee base so much that it is impossible for them to operate," charged the Supervisor, all of which the board's three Republicans denied.

Mr. Paolelli came to the work session to answer board members' questions about the effect of the closings. He and his deputy confirmed that the Sanitation Department had too few workers to bale all the recyclable materials, a process that brings in higher market prices.

Mr. Bernard, Councilman Thomas Knobel, and Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey, the majority, have said a $400,000 deficit in this year's budget, caused in part by a market downslide, made it necessary to curtail the "inefficient" baling and other unnecessary costs.

With a majority behind it, their plan will be enacted when the board votes on the final budget, which must happen before the Nov. 20 deadline.

A reorganization of other town departments, which would likewise take place when the budget is approved, is the subject of a front-page story this week.

Garnham Will Be Fired

The board is expected to schedule a public hearing on the budget during a meeting tomorrow. The Republicans rejected the demand from Supervisor Lester and her fellow Democrat, Councilman Peter Hammerle, for a separate hearing on closing the dump one day a week.

The two maintained the closing would not only discourage some residents from recycling but also inconvenience businesses that haul their own trash, some of them every day, and the carters and landscapers who also need to use the dump every day.

The Democrats and Mr. Paolelli also urged the Republicans not to fire Mr. Garnham, whom Mr. Paolelli called "an outstanding employee."

Mr. Garnham, hired as the town's first recycling coordinator by the 1994 Town Board over its Republican minority's objections, was "not essential" given the overall cost considerations, said Councilman Bernard, adding that Sanitation officials could take over his duties.

No Surprise

One assignment was to educate business owners, residents, and schoolchildren about the importance of participating in the recycling program.

"We just don't see that as important at this particular point in time," Mr. Bernard said, adding that he hoped instead to revive the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee that was created, met twice, and went dormant several years ago.

Reached last night, Mr. Garnham said he was not surprised to hear his job would be eliminated as of New Year's Day. "I heard a few weeks ago I would be targeted," he said.

He said he had brought in $50,000 in grants in the two years since he was hired, more than half what he has earned in that time ($78,800), and that Mr. Paolelli and his deputy, Eugene Garypie, were already too busy to take over his duties.

New Direction

Besides public education about recycling, they include making mandated reports to the state and county, watching the market for recyclables, and writing grant proposals, he said.

His job aside, Mr. Garnham said the new direction the recycling program was taking was "disturbing" because it left the town "increasingly dependent" on the carters who haul its trash away to private recycling plants, incinerators, or out-of-state landfills.

"The idea was that no matter what happened with the market we would always be better off not being the victim of outside forces," he said.