The permit application is now in the hands for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Hopefully, Derby will hear something by the end of next week.
That’s the gist of the statements Phil Robertson, Derby’s chief administrative officer, made to the city Aldermen Wednesday night.
The transfer station closed last year after the DEP announced the city never received an operating permit for the Pine Street property — even though it opened in 1996.
A transfer station — in years past simply called the city dump — is a place where a variety of rubbish is placed, sorted and trucked out for final disposal.
Its closure came at the tail end of a labor dispute between Mayor Anthony Staffieri’s administration and city union workers who ran the transfer station.
The city tossed city workers off the job and brought in a private company — Annex Associates — to run the facility.
A state labor board later ordered Annex out and ordered the city to negotiate with the union about the transfer station’s future. The city was also forced to re-hire two fired city employees who had worked at the transfer station.
Robertson said he received an updated site plan for the transfer station on Monday, which he delivered to the DEP on Tuesday. Robertson said they hope to have an approval — or find out what else needs to be done with the application — by the end of next week.
Station’s Operation Going Out To Bid
After a long executive session Wednesday, the Board of Aldermen voted to put the operation or lease of the transfer station out to bid — somewhat of a surprise, considering the state labor board’s actions last year.
However, the move doesn’t necessarily mean the city is again bringing in another private company to run the transfer station, Staffieri said.
“We’re just exploring all possible options,” the mayor said.