Greene County Solid Waste Management is seeking bids from contractors to upgrade the Windham Transfer Station on Mitchell Hollow Road, citing the aging facility and a lack of space to handle higher volumes of trash.
The station, located on land owned by the town but operated by the county, was built in the mid-1980s. It’s one of just two transfer stations serving Greene County’s mountain towns, the other being on Hylan Road in the town of Hunter.
“It’s definitely time for an upgrade there,” said Greene County Legislator Jim Thorington, who represents Windham, Ashland, Jewett, and Prattsville. “It’s undersized. We need to enlarge it, make it flow a bit better with all your recyclables and bagged garbage.”
Thorington said planning for the project began last fall, when the County Legislature discussed it with engineers.
He said the county held a pre-bid meeting Wednesday, July 15, where potential contractors could review the proposal before submitting bids.
Windham Supervisor Tom Hoyt said the upgraded facility would have separate areas for commercial and residential users.
“There will be a residential drop-off for your regular household trash, separate from the commercial side of it,” Hoyt said. “The whole flow is going to be 100% better.”
Hoyt said recycling would be single-stream, meaning residents dropping off recyclables would not have to sort them first.
“When you show up with your little bag, you throw a tin can here, a plastic bottle here, and cardboard here,” Hoyt said. “You’re going to throw it all in one location now. The county will compact it and then ship it off to the recycling center after that.”
Bids are due July 30. Hoyt said he expected construction to begin next year.
“They may get some work in this winter. It depends on how busy contractors are and who applies,” he said.
Hoyt said construction does not always begin immediately because some materials can take up to four months to arrive.
He said he did not expect construction to disrupt residents living near the station.
“I think it was 2014, when I was highway superintendent in Windham, we built our highway facility just down the street from the transfer station,” he said. “That was a big project and it didn’t interfere with the livelihood of the homeowners up there.”
“For one that visits the transfer station often, the more efficient it is, the better for everybody,” Hoyt said.
Scott Templeton, superintendent of the Greene County Highway and Solid Waste Department, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter, and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.
