Pittsfield’s mayor has created a $562,000 economic package to keep the city’s waste to energy facility running for the next four years. City officials say closure would cost Pittsfield nearly $1 million a year.A city council subcommittee on Wednesday approved Mayor Linda Tyer’s plan to use a portion of Pittsfield’s $5 million 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.
“The goal is to keep disposing of our trash in Pittsfield, hopefully at that location,” said Pittsfield’s Public Utilities Commissioner Bruce Collingwood in July.
New state tax incentives for waste to energy facilities and a reworked steam supplying contract with Crane Currency are also helping Covanta’s outlook. The mayor’s plan goes before the full city council on Tuesday.
