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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Gardiner Transfer station to reopen
By TED REMSNYDER
Two months after a moratorium was
placed on the reuse program at the Town
of Gardiner Transfer Station due to
concerns about potential liability issues,
the facility will be up and running as
normal on May 25.
The Gardiner board took action on
March 28 after the town’s insurance
company expressed its reservations about
the town possibly being held responsible
for faulty items donated at the station that
might subsequently harm another user.
At its meeting on May 10, the Town
Board laid out a baseline of items that will
be permitted at the facility. Acceptable
items will be set aside for reuse, but
residents can still bring in most goods
for disposal. The station coordinator
will decide if any given article fits the
parameters of accepted use. The Transfer
Station will continue to take metal, paper,
cardboard, glass, textiles, compost, books,
ink cartridges, books, electronics and
additional items.
The board also laid out a list of objects
that will no longer be a part of the reuse
program, with a focus on child items such
as cribs and walkers.
“The board has agreed not to accept baby
items with inherent risk, like carriages,
car seats, front packs and backpacks that
you carry babies in,” Town Supervisor
Marybeth Majestic said. “We will take
children’s toys. We have space restraints,
though, so we can only take what we have
room for. We also decided that we will
not be taking mattresses or upholstered
furniture for reuse purposes. You can
still dispose of upholstered furniture and
mattresses at the transfer station for a fee.
But we don’t have the facility to store the
furniture at this time.”
The Transfer Station will also not
accept combustible items like stoves
or gas grills, and the list of prohibited
and allowed objects will be fluid going
forward.
“It will evolve,” Majestic said. “It’s kind
of a work in progress as we figure out what
programs work well and are economically
feasible for the town to provide. Then
we can incorporate programs as they’re
presented to us for what the space down
there allows us to do.”
Last Tuesday’s meeting also included
a presentation from Liz Glover Wilson
from Sunflower Arts Studio concerning
the proposed second installment of the
Sunflower Art Festival. The first annual
festival, which featured local bands and
art installations, was held last summer
at the Tuthilltown Distillery. The event
organizers are hoping to secure a mass
gathering permit to hold the festival at
the same site on Saturday, Aug. 13. As
Board Member John Hinson noted during
the meeting, the festival’s hosts did not
seek the board’s approval last year, and
the planners will have to go through the
correct process this time to secure their
permit.
The proposed festival is expected to
draw 3,000 patrons to the Tuthilltown
complex, though the organizers do not
anticipate more than 1,000 people to
attend the free morning-to-dusk event at
a given time. Shuttle buses for attendees
wil