A state official sent word Wednesday that Derby will receive a permit for its transfer station on Pine Street.
It is not clear when the city will re-open the facility.
A transfer station is a place where garbage and rubbish is dropped off by residents, sorted by workers and trucked away for final disposal.
The Board of Aldermen decided to close Derby’s transfer station last year, after officials learned the facility had been without a permit since it opened in 1996.
An official from the Waste Engineering Enforcement Division of the Department of Environmental Protection said the DEP signed and issued a permit Wednesday.
“I have received, today, an e-mail from the Department of Environmental Protection telling me the City of Derby’s application for the Municipal Transfer Station Permit has been signed and I should expect official notification with the permit in the mail within a couple of days,” Mayor Anthony Staffieri said in a statement.
According to Staffieri, the city was ordered to close its old landfill and incinerator in 1993.
The city then applied for a permit to build the transfer station in 1995.
However, the city never filed for a permit to operate the transfer station and the DEP never followed up, a DEP honcho told the Valley Indy in December.
Staffieri said he became aware of the situation two years ago, after a consultant was hired to investigate the operation of the transfer station.
The city brought in Annex Associates — a private firm — to run the transfer station. That move displaced union workers who had been running the place.
A state labor board later told Derby to remove Annex and negotiate with the union.
The Board of Aldermen last month voted to again put the transfer station’s operation out to bid to private companies to lease.
Companies have until July 30 to submit bids. So far three companies have submitted bids.
Since the transfer station closed, Derby residents have been using a transfer station in Shelton.
DEP spokesman Dennis Schain confirmed the permit approval Wednesday.
Click here to download a DEP document explaining what the city had to do to get the permit.
Thankfully, some GOOD NEWS for the citizens of Derby!
Re:Soxfan Maybe you should compare the figures on what the city took in with private firm and P.W. running it……….. (not the most reputable bunch to begin with, more like “reputed”) compared to ????????????
I guess Ken didn’t learn from his mistake the first time around. He cost the city 100’s of thousands of dollars when he(meaning Ken Hughes,the street commissioner, and mayor)”Illegally fired two DPW employees.” The taxpayers had to pay the two DPW $75,000. This does not include the legal fees, nor the cost to pay Shelton to use their transfer station. Also, Staffieri-Hughes also knew about not having a permit for the transfer station and in turn cost the city another $10,000. Had they negotiated with the union in the beginning, the city could have avoided this debacle. The cost continues to climb with the incompetency of Staffieri-Hughes. However, this is only one instance of their failed leadership. I believe Staffieri-Hughes should both step down and put all this negativity behind us. Only then can the City of Derby move towards a positive direction.
Posted January 24, 2009
*How is the City of Derby making more money now with the new private company at the dump if they are splitting the fees?
Answer by Ken Hughes, President, Board of Aldermen.
Prior to the hiring of Annex Associates, the City of Derby never received any income from plastics, glass, wood, etc. Annex is now sorting and recycling these products and giving a percentage of these proceeds to the City. This is a revenue stream never before realized for the taxpayers, so any percentage given to the City is money which was never before received. Take into account the salary and benefits of the
2 employees no longer at the transfer Station and the savings amount to well over $100,000.
That should have helped to cover some of that
Are you serious? Help cover some of that? We are still in the red with the transfer station. Certain people (selected few) need to wake up and realize that everything these guys do(staffieri-hughes) is not always the right choice for the city. In the five years they have been involved with the city, NOT once have they publicly come out and say they were wrong nor apologize about any decision they have made. Especially, some of the decisions they have made cost the city 100’s of thousands of dollars. Thats just the transfer station. If it’s not their fault then who’s fault is it??
I’m not sticking up for staffieri or hughes. The city needs a change. My question is this. If the City was receiving money from the transfer station when Annex Associates was running it. Where did the money go when the D.P.W’s was running it. City is letting the union hold it hostage
When the D.P.W ran the station, all the profits went to the city. Annex kept 80% of the profits and gave the city 20%. Annex made out the most during this whole mess Staffieri-Hughes got us into.
what have you been smoking????????????????
Finally the transfer station is reopening. lets put the politics aside and think of the people of derby. when annex assoc was running the station it was great and did not even look like a dump. 20% is better than nothing. and they were friendly. lets get this done ASAP!!!
I agree with “goodmanlr,” who is thinking about, what’s the best, for the City of Derby, based on, the proven backround exposure, with Annex Associates. They replaced union city workers, who weren’t doing their job, and were relocated elsewhere.
I have to agree and thank you. I’d like to see in black and white all the profits the city got when the D.P.W was running it. I think everyone ( except hilltop it seems ) know where the profit went and it wasn’t to the city went to someones retirement fund.
You cannot believe everything the paper puts out their cause 95% is what city officials feed them. Bottom Line…Transfer station has been a debacle since the beginning when stafferi-hughes ILLEGALLY FIRED two DPW employees. This mistake caused the city tax payer over 100k and counting. Too me that’s unacceptable!!! and horrible leadership by city officials. This could have been avoided. The transfer station could have stayed open, and it wouldn’t have cost the city a dime. WAKE UP PEOPLE