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MALTA — Earlier this week, the Malta Town Board temporarily held up the approval of a bid for seasonal trash hauling over concerns about the town’s trailer parks and apartment complexes.
Those types of properties would have been excluded from participating in the spring pickup program.
According to Malta Comptroller Kevin King, the only bidder was County Waste in Clifton Park. The board voted against paying the company a $29,500 fee for hauling away residents’ unwanted clutter and debris, plus a disposal fee of $65 per ton.
King said the amount of $50,000 had been budgeted previously for that expense.
Councilman John Hartzell was quick to question why County Waste had specified in its bid that trailer parks and apartment complexes were to be excluded this time around.
“I don’t think it’s fair to town residents who pay property taxes. They’re citizens, too,” Hartzell said. “I’m not prepared to say they can’t avail themselves of services.”
County Waste, King informed the board, considers trailer parks and apartment complexes commercial properties, which are free to contract for trash services at any time.
Still, Hartzell made a motion to reject the company’s bid until such details could be arranged.
County Waste officials did not return a request for comment.
Malta Supervisor Vincent DeLucia queried King and other town staff members in the room about how to resolve any differences with County Waste. Then all four board members present approved Hartzell’s motion to reject.
“We can’t force them to do business with us,” DeLucia said. “That’s the bottom line.”
In other business on March 20, the board voted to approve a resolution that officially designates Malta a Purple Heart town for the sake of soldiers wounded in combat. In neighboring Halfmoon and other towns, such resolutions often lead to the installation of honorary road signs and possibly community events.
A U.S. Army veteran, Master Sergeant Scott Kyle, gave a presentation to the board accompanied by two more members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Kyle leads the group’s Albany chapter and coordinates local outreach efforts.
Kyle, after describing his run-ins with explosives three times during combat in Afghanistan, spoke about the growing number of New York towns that are thusly honoring soldiers awarded the prestigious Purple Heart medal.
“It’s so that communities are always doing something for our veterans,” Kyle explained to DeLucia, Hartzell and the other board members.
Kyle displayed for all present how each Purple Heart medal is etched with the image of President George Washington. Reportedly, Washington had first begun awarding the nation’s combat medals on August 7, 1782. Memorial ceremonies are being planned on that summer date later this year.
The state of New York and a total of 34 towns and counties, Kyle said, have passed such Purple Heart resolutions. But some communities, he added, have resisted the move.
“There are places that don’t want us there, and it’s pretty disheartening,” Kyle concluded.
