Residents Angry About Garbage Changes, Police Chief Selection Process

An angry crowd of residents packed Town Hall on Thursday night to address the Town Board about the upcoming end to backdoor garbage pick-up and the selection process for the next chief of police.

The town's sanitation policy will officially change Monday, and residents will need to take their trash to the curb for pick-up. This will save money and manpower for the diminished Department of Public Works.

Anthony Robinson, acting director of Public Works, said that with reduced manpower in the department, they were forced to reduce the number of routes from eight to four.

"We added 150 to 200 stops per route. It's unfeasible to try to continue with backdoor pick-up. There's not enough hours," Robinson said. "We are no longer staffed to perform backdoor pick-up."

The department lost several employees through retirements last month, an incentive the town offered to certain employees that is saving an approximate $1.1 million for the cash-strapped town.

Robinson said that during the initial analysis, town officials didn't consider reducing backdoor pick-up to once a week instead of twice because during past recycling discussions, residents didn't want to hold onto their recycling for that long.

"We thought if they're not willing to hold onto bottles and cans, they certainly won't want to hang onto garbage," he said.

Supervisor Joan Walsh told the angry room that the money saved through the sanitation changes equaled 3 percent of their taxes.

"Instead of 12 percent, it would've been 15 percent," Walsh said."We did not go into this willy nilly."

Resident Robert Porto spoke out against the change several times Thursday evening.

"I think you're ruining the town with this," Porto said.

Other residents criticized the board for not having a permit system that would allow the elderly and disabled to be excused from curbside pick-up.

Councilman Joseph Cannella said while the board discussed permits, they couldn't make that decision without knowing how many would take them, and how many the Department of Public Works could absorb.

Robinson said that while he couldn't answer in any specific terms, he'd estimate 100 permits wold be the limit.

Resident Dino Puccio, said that while he was upset to lose a service, he understood the reasons, and suggested that maybe other residents are afraid of change.

"People who complain they have to walk 200 feet out of their $2 million home should hire someone [to take it to the curb]," Puccio said.

A large number of residents were also in attendance to give their opinions regarding the selection process for a new police chief.

Many residents spoke out asking that newly elected Councilwoman Marlane Amelio remove herself from the selection process because she is related through marriage to Capt. and Acting Chief Anthony Marraccini.

"It's not a republican and democratic matter, it's a matter of common sense," said Elizabeth Pritchard.

Phillip Marraccini, brother of Capt. and Acting CHief Anthony Marraccini, said that he thought the board needed to stop personal attacks because the chief selection should not be a political decision.

Several board members discussed whether the public should be commenting on the selection and residents were allowed to carry on after it was noted that discussion on the topic had already been allowed for weeks.

Public discussion at Thursday's meeting grew very loud and out of order, with Walsh threatening to end the meeting at one point if the audience did't stop speaking over one another.

Curbside trash pick-up goes into effect Monday, and Walsh previously said the new pick-up would be evaluated in a few months.