The Pittsfield City Council has approved a $562,000 economic package to keep the city’s waste-to-energy facility open for four years.City councilors voted 10 to 1 Tuesday to approve using money from the $5 million Pittsfield Economic Development Fund to sustain Covanta’s Hubbard Avenue facility. Citing poor economic conditions, in July the company announced plans to close the site in March 2017. Combining lost tax revenue, host fees and added costs to haul waste to Springfield or Canaan, NY, city officials say closure would cost Pittsfield about $900,000 a year. At-large city councilor Pete White made the case for approving the funding put forward by Mayor Linda Tyer.
“To me this is one the friendliest business thing we can do,” White said. “Going right down to the level of landlords who have four-unit apartments that have to pay to bring their trash away. That cost would be passed on to them if they have to bring it further. Every business that has to get rid of waste, we are saving them money by not having our costs go up.”
The money will go toward a state-mandated enclosed recycling area and replacing a backup boiler used in delivering steam power to nearby companies Crane Currency and Neenah Technical Materials. About 25 people work at the Covanta site and the companies it delivers steam to employ more than 400, according to the city. Crane’s President of U.S. Government Products Richard Rowe says the company has reworked its contract with Covanta.
“I can’t describe exactly the numbers, but let’s just say the magnitude on an annual basis is similar to what the city of Pittsfield is presenting over a four-year period and that would go beyond four years as well,” Rowe said. “So we have stepped up to the plate and Neenah is a part of our contract.”
State Senator Ben Downing, a Pittsfield Democrat, also helped to pass new energy tax credits this year to make Covanta and facilities like it more economically viable. City Councilor Melissa Mazzeo was the lone opposition vote. She says Pittsfield is jumping the gun on giving Covanta money since the company hasn’t submitted its 150-day written notice of closure.
“We’re taking on this major role of fixing this problem, keeping this private business open and I understand that other communities don’t collect the taxes like we do – and I get that – but we are really the one that has stepped up and is trying to help,” Mazzeo said. “That bothers me.”
Councilor Chris Connell echoed Mazzeo’s call for other towns that utilize the facility to step up to the table. About 15,000 tons of the 84,000 processed annually at Covanta’s site comes from Pittsfield. Mazzeo also argued the city’s funding will support efforts that won’t improve Covanta’s bottom line.
“I think we ran to the table too quickly,” Mazzeo said. “We panicked and we said ‘Here you go.’ And you guys [Covanta] are like ‘Great, yeah, I’ll take it.’”
Covanta Pittsfield’s business manager Ken Ryan says the company plans to operate in the city for more than four years.
“We’ve had the end of contracts in the past and we’ve been here 35 years and have continued to renegotiate and resign contracts,” Ryan said. “Our hope is that we’ll continue to be here for the longterm, but we just can’t commit right now to anymore than our contracts.”
Rowe stressed the importance of approving the city’s funding immediately.
“We are in the 13th inning right now of this situation,” Rowe said. “We have until next March. We have to make a decision very soon. We’ve worked diligently with Covanta, the city of Pittsfield and the state to make this happen. Any delay here may actually force us to not renew our negotiation with Covanta and just go ahead and buy a boiler.”
By the end of the roughly hour-long discussion, Councilor Connell voted to approve the spending. Meanwhile, Pittsfield’s Resource Recovery Committee is looking at the future of the city’s solid waste management. The committee endorsed the mayor’s economic package. Should Covanta close before the four-year mark, it would pay back a prorated portion of the $562,000. Covanta also says it is open to amending its contract with Pittsfield to require a one-year notice of closure.
