MASSENA - Town officials will have opted to end their curbside spring cleanup pickups, but town residents living outside the village will be able to drop materials off at the transfer station in Massena at no cost for three days in early May.

The Massena Town Council voted to set May 2 to 4 as the dates when town residents may drop off solid refuse at the Solid Waste Transfer Station off Route 420, south of Massena. In past years, town highway crews have traveled the roads outside the village nad picked up items left nect to the road.

Supervisor Joseph D. Gray said the primary reason for the shift from at-home trash pickup is to prevent abuse of the service. Mr. Gray said town officials have long been suspicious that some residents use the service to help non-residents dispose of trash.

“You pull up in front of a house and every year there’s a TV, two couches and five recliners. Something must be wrong there,” Highway Department Superintendent Frank Diagostino said.

Mr. Gray said residents may drop off trash between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. those days, and he stressed that the service is only for residents of the town outside the village.

Town officials also noted the shift would save the town on the cost of trash pickup, although Mr. Gray said they would not know how much until after the fact.

“I think it’s the right thing to do with trying to save money,” Mr. Diagostino said.

Mr. Diagostino is preparing a list for what types of refuse the town will not be able to handle, such as tires, cardboards and other recycleable materials. He said highway department staff would also be on hand to help residents with the collection of refuse and to inform them as to what materials they can and cannot take.

However, St. Lawrence County Solid Waste Department officials will be on hand to collect whatever Massena’s highway Department is not prepared to handle.

“If someone shows up with a refrigerator or recyclable materials, my county staff will be on-hand to answer questions. We’re (going to be) there to help take whatever you can’t,” said Scott Thornhill, recycling operations coordinator for St. Lawrence County’s solid waste department.

Councilman John F. Macaulay raised concern about long wait-times for residents seeking to utilize the service.

Mr. Diagostino replied that he didn’t think long wait periods would be a significant issue, because it hadn’t been an issue when residents of Brasher and Potsdam dropped off refuse at the transfer station in the past. However, he did say there would be restricted access to the transfer station in order to ensure a safe and regulated flow of traffic.

“It has to be orderly otherwise someone is going to get hurt,” he said.

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