AUBURN - No one likes change, especially when it costs people money, but even landfills have to update with the times, city officials say.

Come January, Auburn landfill users will see a difference in the decal system as well as the prices for dumping garbage, yard waste and recyclable materials. Operating hours for a certain time period will also be changing.

In a bid to boost efficiency, the North Division Street facility will close for 11 Saturdays during the winter. Except for the Saturday after Christmas, Dec. 29, and the one following New Year's Day, Jan. 5, the landfill will be shut down for the weekend day in December and reopen Saturdays beginning in March.

City officials first spoke of reducing hours to operate the dump only during the morning on Saturdays two years ago. Sanitation supervisor Michael Talbot said they encouraged him to run the landfill like a business, rather than a service.

The biggest change, however, comes with the elimination of the 200-pound grace limit. Rates were imposed for people disposing of materials - yard waste, recyclable matter, and household trash - for anything heavier than 200 pounds. As of January, people will pay for every pound.

“New York State Electric and Gas doesn't give away the first 10 kilowatts for free,” Talbot said.

People took advantage of the grace limit, combined with the lack of regulations on how many times people can visit the dump.

“Those honest residents with decals and three or four bags were shot out of the water by some of these landfill users who are operating hauling or moving businesses,” Talbot said. “Now we have to treat everybody the same.”

Workers would see some people at the dump 10 times a day, some running businesses by exploiting the catch. As long as they dumped less than 200 pounds each trip, they could walk away paying only for the annual permit.

“People are going to (complain) about it but we can't afford it any more. We can't give out freebies,” Talbot said.

As of January, the decal prices will change for the first time in seven years.

“Our system is archaic. Our expenses are going up all the time,” Talbot said.

Having both decals on top of tonnage fees is a standard system that helps workers regulate who comes and goes through the facility. They will no longer use coupons.

The new stickers have bar-codes so they can scan them as they come in. This means the facility will have weights figured into the computers. Every time they come through, that's how they will calculate the amount they dumped.

People can request another turn at the scale on future runs if they have passengers in their cars which will change the proportion. It will be up to users to say something.

They plan to start selling at the end of December.

Regular landfill user David Colella isn't complaining about increases to trash revenue, but he believes recycling drop off should be free.

“How do you convince people to recycle - there are people who don't want to do it - if you are going to charge for it,” said Colella, who lives outside the city but owns property inside its borders.

The city has to pay people to maintain the system, as well as take those materials to market, Talbot countered. The city does get paid for them, but the prices depends on the market. In addition, the city does offer recycling at the curb, so it is residents' choice to pay at the landfill or not.

“We do make a lot of money down here, but we don't make a lot of profits,” Talbot said.

Colella also has voiced his concerns about the closing of some Saturdays during the winter.

“I'm afraid for one, people won't have any place to bring trash who work during normal hours. Now they have to burden their neighbors,” Colella said.

On Saturdays, sometimes a few people came in while other Saturdays, the cars would be lined up to the road, he said. Colella said once the city reduced the hours in 2006, the lines got worse.

But Talbot said the Saturdays they are closing are the slowest weekend days of the years.

It costs $800 to run the landfill for those 4.5 hours, a figure that includes labor, fuel, paperwork and electricity charges, Talbot said. The skeleton crew doesn't allow the department to stagger shifts, so anyone who works Saturdays earns overtime for those shifts.

Colella is concerned people doing home improvement projects will have to hang on to material until they can make it to the landfill. Colella would like to see the landfill open a full day on the weekend for that reason.

Talbot said this may affect the people who are cleaning out their basements or likewise, but they need to plan accordingly.

“This is trial and error,” Talbot said. “If we find this is a total misery, we can change it.”

Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net

Out with the old

New policies taking effect in January will have people paying for every pound they throw away at the city landfill. The rates have remained the same for years, but most people never disposed of more than 200 pounds, the point at which fees have applied. Here is what landfill users can expect to pay:

Garbage: $3.60 per 100 pounds. Minimum charge of $3.60.

Yard waste and leaves: $1 per 100 pounds. Minimum charge of $1.

Brush: $2 per 100 pounds. Minimum charge of $2.

Recyclables: $1 per 100 pounds. Minimum charge of $1.

All users will have to have a decal to enter the landfill. The stickers are good from January through December.

City residents: $20

City property owner: $35

Non-city resident: $50