Village of Sherman Accepts Feasibility Study for Composting Facility | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo of David Prenatt Sherman Village Council held a special meeting to explore the possibility of building a composting facility.

SHERMAN – Sherman Village Council members agreed at a special meeting on June 23 to approve a letter of intent to study the feasibility of installing a Griffin dryer for the purpose of composting Category A biosolids.

The council authorized Sherman Mayor Colleen Meeder to sign the Letter of Intent between Griffin Residuals LLC and the Village of Sherman. “This is a non-financially binding agreement to start a feasibility study”, she said.

Meeder stressed that this phase is just the beginning and the study may not turn into a composting facility. However, if the project went ahead and a composting facility was built, Griffin Residuals would be the operator.

Jay Irwin, chief wastewater operator, said the proposed composting facility would be located on the sewage treatment plant property. Meeder noted that the village planned to use the property for composting. “We have considered this property for this purpose from the start,” she said.

Earlier in the year, the village applied for a grant to set up a composting facility, but was turned down. Therefore, Meeder said the village is unlikely to be able to build and operate the facility. “We cannot enter it because our debt limit will not support it”, she said. “With Griffin, it could be a win-win with getting what we want without going into debt.”

Irwin said such a facility would likely cost $ 8 or $ 9 million to build. He said the biggest push for the composting facility is from those who don’t want to pay $ 80 per load to dump it in a landfill and are willing to go to a composting facility to save money. money regularly.

Irwin also told members of the village board that even if Griffin or the village decided the project was not feasible, they still had a completed study to give to the engineers.

In other cases, council has approved an application for a Climate Smart Communities grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to update the village’s zoning code. The request will be prepared by Barton & Loguidice at a cost not to exceed $ 4000.

The board of directors has authorized Meeder to sign the agreement with Barton & Loguidice. “It’s a risk of $ 4000” Meeder said. “Nevertheless, DEC encourages us to do so. “

In another case, the board formally accepted ownership of the Sherman Central School District Nature Center, following the June 21 certification of the May 18 vote results. Ownership is transferred from the school district to the village for $ 1.

Board members also approved an extension of the penalty tax on certain properties due to changes in ownership. The extension is one month. However, Meeder noted, the collector will need to record the payment. “in full” for invoices received after the applied penalty period, and adjust the receipt in the general ledger.