Warren County reviews solid-waste hauling operations and seeks grant-funded truck, explores food-scrap pilot and recycling grant

Warren County officials told the Building and Grounds Committee that the county’s new hauling operation is keeping pace with collections but lacks spare capacity to absorb equipment failures and heavy seasonal surges, prompting plans to request an additional driver and to seek grant funding for a truck.

The solid-waste presentation opened with county staff reporting that vendors left some containers behind earlier in the year and that crews have since caught up. “We can certainly right now continue to haul and stay on getting the containers removed from each one of the facilities and getting them dumped,” said Kevin (staff member), while noting the operation has little slack for repairs when a container or truck is lost.

Committee members and staff said the county runs a much smaller fleet than private haulers and therefore has limited redundancy: “They don’t have 3 trucks, they have a fleet of 10 to 15 trucks. … We do not have that,” said Scott (staff member), describing private hauler capacity as a contrast to the county’s two new trucks plus older equipment. Staff said one of the recurring operational challenges is that the county’s hauls are continuous across the three participating municipalities, leaving few downtime windows to repair containers.

To address the capacity shortfall, staff said they will ask the committee and board for an additional driver position and, ultimately, another truck. Planning staff told the committee the county is submitting a local government efficiency grant today that would fund a truck and a driver at a 90%/10% state/local split for three years; staff said the application deadline was that afternoon and they expected to submit the application. Staff stressed the grant is not guaranteed and that the county would likely still need to budget for the position and vehicle in the longer term.

Committee members discussed options for paying for new equipment. Staff presented a rough cost example: a $250,000 roll‑off truck amortized over 10 years would add about $25,000 per year to program costs; an estimated annual fully loaded cost for a new driver position was given as about $66,000.

Staff said they have begun tracking container conditions and transfer-station needs more closely than private vendors had, and they are organizing an outreach meeting with transfer-station operators and supervisors in late February or early March to coordinate expectations and schedules. That improved data, they said, will help predict when planned construction projects or renovations—such as major hotel or lodge work—will spike construction and C&D (construction and demolition) volumes.

On C&D policy, staff described large renovations as episodic but material to daily operations: a single construction project can fill a C&D container within two tandem loads. The town-level limits vary; staff noted the town of Queensbury limits most household contributors to one cubic yard of C&D at its transfer station, which reduces pressure on county hauling when builders follow those rules.

Staff also addressed billing and documentation from transfer stations and vendors: committee members asked for copies of waybills or weigh tickets to accompany invoices so the treasurer and auditors can verify tonnage claims; staff said drivers collect slips for every haul and can provide those copies to towns and the treasurer’s office.

Food-scrap pilot and recycling grants

The county’s working group reported progress on a state-approved food-scrap pilot grant; staff said they have identified a likely pilot site east of the airport on Stone Quarry Road and plan an initial acceptance capacity of roughly 2–3 tons of food scraps per week. Staff said they estimate household participation at about eight pounds per household per week and are coordinating with potential business partners so intake matches processing capacity. Contracting with the state remains required: staff said the county awaits a formal state contract after notification of award and that a May–June start is possible but depends on the timing of that paperwork.

On recyclables, staff said the county is paying to send certain mixed commodities to disposal at roughly $90 per ton and has applied for an EPA Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant for about $1.4 million to build a facility capable of baling recyclable commodities and connecting directly to markets; staff said any award would likely not enable construction until 2026 at the earliest.

Why it matters

Committee members said the county-run hauling program was created to save money for participating municipalities and to provide reliable service. Staff said the program is still stabilizing; adding staff and equipment would reduce the risk of service interruptions during summer peak tourism and large construction events. The county’s immediate next steps are to submit the local efficiency grant, continue transfer-station coordination, provide waybills to towns for invoice verification, and return to the committee with cost/legislative options for procuring equipment if the grant is not awarded.

The committee did not take a formal vote on staffing or vehicle purchases during the meeting; staff said they will work with the budget officer and treasurer and bring proposed funding or legislation back to a future committee meeting.