SILVER CREEK - The battle over whether to switch from village garbage bags to stickers rages on within the Silver Creek Village Board.
The board recently met to discuss whether the switch would equate to a cost savings for the board.
"I still strongly feel it's a win-win situation for the village and the residents to save money," Trustee Thomas Harmon said.
Harmon originally brought the idea to the board after discovering the amount of time village employees spend moving and counting the garbage bags.
The topic has been controversial with some residents coming to the board with concerns over the price of stickers with the cost of bags from a store and the possibility of animals ripping up cheaper bags.
At the board's last meeting Trustee Amy Romanik questioned the cost savings of the switch, which she brought to the board once again saying Harmon only took into consideration the tipping fee.
"So let's just say we are talking about 60,000 bags and 60,000 stickers If you are going to buy 60,000 bags at 15.5 cents each, it's going to cost us $9,300. If we sell 60,000 bags at $1.25, we will bring in $75,000 which will give us a profit of $65,700. If you're going to go with the stickers and you are saying they are 7 cents each, 60,000 will cost us $4,200. It will cost us less, however we're going to bring in $60,000 (with stickers costing customers $1 each), which will give us a profit of $55,800. So essentially, we would lose $9,900." she explained. "It's like tripping over dollars to save nickels. The residents may save a few cents going with the stickers but in the long run the village is going to lose almost $10,000 which will be passed onto the residents in their tax bill."
Harmon disagreed about the loss of revenue when employee productivity is considered.
"The 14 hours per week in labor they are spending now rolling garbage bags times their rate of pay needs to be added to the price of the garbage bags so that the price is really $2 and some or $3 not $1.25," Harmon argued.
Romanik disagreed saying it is part of the employees' jobs and it is not worth the loss.
"Our employees' sole job is to serve our residents and taxpayers. So that is part of their job, it is part of their job description I just feel like if we are going to lose $10,000 revenue it's not a savings It certainly can go up for a vote but my vote is going to be no because I think we would be losing too much revenue," Romanik added.
Trustee Nick Piccolo said the board need more time and information before dismissing the option, leaving the discussion for another meeting.
The town will next meet on Dec. 10 for a special meeting with Wendel engineering at 6 p.m. and for its regular meeting on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
In other business:
The board has advertised for a part-time clerk to replace Wendy Pagano after her resignation. The board decided the position would be 16-hours per week.
The Police Department also asked to advertise for another full-time officer position due to understaffing.
