Richmond residents want the dilapidated former Reid Hospital building torn down sooner rather than later, but the projected cost to do so is measured in millions of dollars, money the city doesn’t have available on hand.
One Richmond Common Council member is pushing an idea that he believes could pay for the project and then some.
Jamie Lopeman believes a landfill and solid waste collection privatization project such as the one implemented in Colonie, N.Y., could solve some of the city of Richmond’s money troubles. He first brought up the idea last fall during the 2017 budget hearings.
In 2011, Colonie, a community of about 80,000 people, leased its landfill and associated services and received a $23 million dollar upfront payment on the contract as well as annual payments of $1 million to $2 million. Funds such as that, particularly an upfront lump payment, could help the city pay for the demolition and cleanup of the former hospital site.
For a November Palladium-Item story, Lopeman said removing the landfill and solid waste operations from the city’s oversight would decrease costs such as labor, regulatory fees and might give employees a chance at better wages and health insurance.
“We need to do our due diligence regarding leasing the landfill to a private company,” Lopeman said in November. “We have to ask, ‘Can the city of Richmond support a landfill?’
“I would not be in favor of anything that does not benefit the employees (of the sanitary district),” Lopeman said. “If they’re not safe, I don’t want to do it.”
Richmond Mayor Dave Snow also said this week that sanitary district employees are one of his top concerns when it comes to discussions about any effort to privatize waste collection.
“They are a hard-working group that dedicates a lot of sweat to working for this city,” Snow said. “They don’t deserve to just be handed over to a private company via a contract. The relationship we have with our labor force is paramount to our success as a city.”
Snow also questions the long-term impact that would come from letting go of a piece of city government.
“The landfill, in its current state, is not a burden to this city government. It is an asset and should be treated as such,” he said. “Giving up an asset to leverage another burden does not provide a healthy forecast. It’s not a trend that we should ever start in order to solve some of the problems at hand.
“My main concern would be the long-term ramifications. We would take an asset out of not only our hands, but future administrations. It is important for all local elected officials to understand that their role has a time limit, and we must make sure that we are laying a firm groundwork for those assets that will endure beyond their time to be properly managed by future elected officials.”
The issue of whether to explore privatization of the landfill and solid waste collection came up at this week’s common council meeting. Lopeman asked Snow his opinion on documents Lopeman had given him about Colonie’s money-raising action. Lopeman shared the Colonie privatization lease of 25 years with Snow and council members on March 1, he said.
Snow said he saw a number of red flags in the contract that concerned him.
“The city is only allowed a certain amount of waste before it’s charged a fee. That concerns me,” Snow said. “Also, the city had to waive any ability to take legal action against the company for the length of the contract.”
Other concerns in the contract for Snow were that the private company had the ability to build or demolish structures at the landfill and the city was required to approve those permits. At the end of the contract, the private company wasn’t required to rebuild or demolish any structures the city would need or not need.
Another concern was that in a breech of contract, the city would be liable to pay back the private company a portion of the upfront multi-million dollar payment.
Snow said he would hate to put such a potential burden on future city leaders.
“That seems like a dangerous path to walk,” he said.
To read the full story, visit http://www.pal-item.com/story/news/local/2017/05/06/councilman-asks-if-city-should-lease-landfill/101189858/.