ALBANY – The city’s Department of General Services will give a presentation Thursday evening that could give residents the start of an answer to the question that has plagued the city for decades: What comes next after the Rapp Road landfill closes?
Closing the landfill — a well-known mound on the state Thruway and Washington Avenue Extension skyline — and changing how the city handles its solid waste will be a major change and an expensive one. And getting it wrong could leave a stinking mess for the city’s next mayor.
Thursday’s presentation before the Common Council’s General Services, Health and Environment committee is the first of several public discussions around the 255-acre site — and what comes next for trash disposal in the city.
Eighth Ward councilman Jack Flynn, chair of the committee, said the council was looking for an update on where the city’s landfill stands and what’s next.
The biggest questions are how much the next system of trash removal will cost, how will the city handle recycling, will the city decide to contract with a private hauler and will the city move to a “pay-as-you-throw” model, he said.
“We just want to know where the administration is,” he said.
The committee is also considering several pieces of legislation related to the landfill, including one that would ban passenger vehicles and create a permit system for commercial waste haulers.
The landfill was a cash cow for decades, at one point making up roughly 10 percent of the city’s budget. The city repeatedly expanded the site as it raked in millions in tipping fees by accepting waste from other local governments. In 2005, the landfill was supposed to generate more than $13 million in fees. The city now receives about $3.6 million annually from the landfill, according to the 2023 budget.
And as the dump began to fill previous administrations…
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