PRESORTED
STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #9 APALACHIN, NY
CARRIER ROUTE POSTAL CUSTOMER
BROWN ENTERPRISE AND MARKETING 7830 STATE ROUTE 434 APALACHIN, NEW YORK 13732
APALACHIN • OWEGO • NICHOLS TIOGA CENTER • NEWARK VALLEY
CAMPVILLE • BARTON • CANDOR SPENCER • CATATONK
YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER • www.CommunityPress.us Volume 35
FEBRUARY 2020
2020 Leadership Tioga Program
Leadership Tioga held its kick-off session last month. Run by the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce, the Leadership Tioga Program is committed to inspiring and connecting participants to services in the community by promoting personal growth, leadership development, networking, and skill building. Various class locations throughout the county give participants the opportunity to learn more about what Tioga County has to offer. Dynamic speakers discuss topics such as professional leadership, volunteerism, performance management, public safety, and human services. The class heard from speaker Robert Williams on the importance of community and volunteerism. Facilitator Jill Teeter introduced the
class project for this year which will include community service for a nonprofit organization in Tioga County. This year’s class has 22 attendees from the area, including a student from Owego Free Academy. The class of 2020 Leadership Tioga participants are: Ian Barrett-Sargent, Heather Davis, Glenda Ford, Gary Frey, Vincent Gennett, Megan Griffiths, Abbey Hendrickson, Kylie Holochak, Michele Hughston, Krista Kelley, Julie Kipling, Matt Kisloski, David Lemmon, Emily Mantei, Michelle Pelton, Meredith Sagor, Daniel Scherrer, Lynn Schiess, Rebecca Staudt, Gregory Tifft, Michelle Vandebogart, and Isaac Weber. For information, contact the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce at 6872020 or info@tiogachamber.com.
Shared Services Building Update
by Donald Castellucci, Jr. - Town of Owego Supervisor
As you can see when you drive by the Owego Town Hall, the new Shared Services Building is moving along as planned. The project is pretty much on schedule other than some site work issues that were resolved in the beginning of the project. Over the next few weeks, you will see the completion of the steel erection, masonry work continuing and the foundation work completed. You will also see the wall and roof panels being installed as well. Of course, all of this schedule is weather permitting. The directional boring and sewer and water connections are nearing completion. The Town hall sewer connection has
been completed, the water has been tested and will be connected in the upcoming weeks. The directional boring project costs were reduced by approximately $142,000 dollars from the original bid. This project will also allow water and sewer to be run in part of the 434 corridor for future development. The cost of the shared services project is on budget with no major issues to date. It is anticipated that the building should be operational by August with a total takeover by the Town in October. I will continue to update residents on the project over the next few months along with the second phase work as well.
Save Your Precious Memories HAVE YOUR 8mm Movies & VHS Videos Converted to DVDs
Number 2
After the Fire . . . Southern Tier Recycling Vows to Rebuild its Recycling Plant in Apalachin
The company will continue to play a leadership role in the Southern Tier’s recycling industry. On the evening of Friday January 3, a fire quickly swept through Southern Tier Recycling’s (STR) plant in Tioga County. Despite valiant efforts by the Apalachin Fire Department and many other area fire departments, the $4.5 million, 30,000-square-foot facility was a total loss. Fortunately, the facility was closed at the time of the fire and there were no injuries. Investigators currently believe that the fire was ignited by a crushed lithium battery or a discarded mobile telephone. There are scores of recycling facilities nationwide that experience similar fires as STR from crushed batteries. Once a spark is ignited, the contents of the building, paper and plastics provide the fuel to destroy the facility even with the presence of fire suppression equipment in the building. However, STR emphasized that despite this unfortunate event, the company is making every accommodation possible to continue the smooth operation of services until the new facility is up and running. Robert Taylor Jr., president of Southern Tier Recycling, stated, “The loss of the Southern Tier Recycling facility was a devastating event in the history of our company; however, the area’s recycling programs will continue to be unimpeded and all of our recycling partners across the region should continue business as usual, as we will.” To allow the uninterrupted collection and processing of area recyclables, STR repurposed its adjacent waste transfer station for recyclables on the following Monday, January 6. STR is pleased to report that recyclable volumes received at the transfer station are consistent with previous volumes despite the force majeure conditions. This process will continue until the new facility is constructed, equipped and opened. STR believes that the $5 million reconstructed facility will be operational in the fourth quarter of this year. Presently, STR has to accept and load the incoming volume to be delivered to
other merchant facilities. It is now paying to have the recyclables transported between 80-100 miles to other facilities in the region and is paying $110 per ton to the facilities to process its material. Previously, STR accepted the material and used its own equipment to process and then sell the sorted material. Exacerbating the situation is the worldwide market price depression for recycling products as a result of China’s, the world largest purchaser of recyclable material, forbidding the importation of much of the United States’ recycling. This has caused a glut in the market and has driven commodity prices down, in some cases to unprofitable levels and even where there is no revenue at all received for some commodities. Previously, STR covered its expenses by marketing its sorted material to world markets. This allowed STR to accept most of the incoming material at no charge to its customers. Instead of selling its material, it is now paying approximately $157 per ton to get Southern Tier’s recyclables processed and available to the market. This is an untenable situation; the company cannot afford to continue this practice for any extended period. On an interim basis, STR will be charging a fee to accept recycling until the new facility is open. However, other recycling plants in the Northeast like STR are currently charging between $100-$135 per ton for processing only. Should STR not reopen and no other facility with adequate capacity opens in the area, residents of the Southern Tier area could find themselves paying $160 to $200 per ton to have the recyclables used again. While the interruption caused by the fire is truly unfortunate for the residents of the Southern Tier, STR is moving as quickly as possible to support the area’s recycling program’s return to normalcy.
BEARCAT SCANNERS HEAR ALL THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENS
BEAM Electronics
BEAM Electronics
7830 Rt 434, Apalachin, N. Y. 625-2222
7830 Rt 434, Apalachin, N. Y. 625-2222