By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Union employees at Ogdensburg’s wastewater treatment plant are skeptical of a proposal from the city to contract with the Development Authority of the North Country.

On Monday DANC representative Carrie Tuttle highlighted how the city could benefit by signing a wastewater management agreement with DANC. While the exact details of the proposal would have to be hashed out by the city council and DANC, the plan would cost $100,000 to $120,000.

Under the plan, DANC would provide a licensed, degree-holding employee to oversee operations at the wastewater treatment facility. It would also streamline communication between the city and DANC and open up an opportunity to seek grants and plan for future expenses that could offset costs for the city down the road.

Under the agreement, the DANC employee, at least temporarily, would fill the role of Tim Adams, the chief operator, who plans to retire in January. The DANC employee would also provide additional services as a licensed engineer. These services could provide a potential savings for city as getting engineers to sign off on work at the plant often costs the city between $35,000 to $50,000 annually.

Department of Public Works Director Scott Thornhill envisions the first year of the agreement to be a net zero for the city in terms of costs and jobs. But said the long term planning that DANC brings to the table could translate to savings in the future.

The plan drew concerns from the Civil Service Employee Association’s white- and blue-collar presidents at the wastewater facility, due to a perceived potential reduction in jobs and a change over in management.

At the Monday meeting, Shane Brown, who represents the blue-collar employees, said the DANC agreement sounded like an attempt at privatization that could result in a loss of union jobs.

Thornhill said the wastewater facility currently has five employees. This is down from the eight employees it had approximately two years ago. However, those jobs have not been officially eliminated. Thornhill says they continue to remain in the city budget despite being vacant.

Thornhill said the wastewater facility has the capacity to process 6.5 million gallons of water per day and currently only processes about 3.2 million gallons. He said the facility saw major reductions in processing when the cheese plant closed several years back.

The most recent retirement was one of the operators, which Thornhill says the city attempted to fill unsuccessfully.

He said the other vacancies are a result of retirements and that the city has been working to determine how many positions are needed at the wastewater facility and what specific jobs would be the most beneficial at the plant moving forward.

Thornhill says the DANC contractor could likely help the city determine answers to those questions.

Brown says he and his fellow union members are skeptical of the deal, but are willing to explore options. He said the union has approached Thornhill about establishing a committee to meet with other municipalities that have similar contracts with DANC. Brown said the goal is to see what the DANC proposal looked like in action and find out how it would affect members of his union.

“We want to meet with the workers and talk to them about working with DANC. We want to know what we are looking at,” he said.

Thornhill is pleased with the idea of creating a committee to explore the idea further. Brown says the committee would likely include city councilors and employees at the wastewater facility as well as Thornhill.

“Our main concern is jobs. We want to know more about the plan and how it would affect us,” Brown said.

Brown and Thornhill agreed that communication between the city management and the union had been transparent and positive.