Photo by David Prenatt The Sherman Village Board held a special meeting to consider studying the possibility of constructing a composting facility.

SHERMAN — Members of the Sherman Village Board agreed at a special meeting June 23 to approve a letter of intent to study the feasibility of installing a Griffin dryer for the purpose of composting Grade A biosolids.

The board authorized Sherman Mayor Colleen Meeder to sign the letter of intent between Griffin Residuals LLC and the village of Sherman. “This is a non-financially binding agreement to begin a feasibility study,” she said.

Meeder stressed that this phase is just the beginning and the study may not develop into a composting facility. However, if the project would proceed, and a composting facility be built, Griffin Residuals would be the operator.

Jay Irwin, chief wastewater operator, said the proposed composting facility would be located on wastewater treatment plant property. Meeder noted that the village had been planning to use the property for composting. “We’ve been considering this property for this purpose from the beginning,” she said.

Earlier in the year, the village applied for a grant to create a composting facility, but was denied. Therefore, Meeder said the village would most likely not be able to construct and operate the facility. “We cannot get into it because our debt limit will not support it,” she said. “With Griffin, this could be a win-win with us getting what we want without getting into debt.”

Irwin said a facility such as this would probably cost $8 or $9 million to construct. He said the biggest push for the composting facility is those who don’t want to pay $80 a load to dump at a land fill, and are willing to drive to a composting facility to save money on a regular basis.

Irwin also told village board members that even if Griffin or the village decided the project is not feasible, they still have a completed study to take to the engineers.

In other business, the board approved a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Climate Smart Communities grant application to update the village zoning code. The application will be written by Barton & Loguidice at a cost not to exceed $4,000.

The board authorized Meeder to sign the agreement with Barton & Loguidice. “This is a $4,000 risk,” Meeder said. “Nevertheless, the DEC is encouraging us to do this.”

In another matter, the board officially accepted the Nature Center property from the Sherman Central School District, following the June 21 certification of the May 18 vote results. The property is being transferred from the school district to the village for $1.

Board members also approved a tax penalty extension on certain properties due to changes in property ownership. The extension is for one month. However, Meeder noted, the tax collector will have to post the payment “in full” for the bills received after the applied penalty period, and make the adjustment to the receipt in the general ledger.