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October 28, 2005 - 2:15:18 AM EST

Got clay? S'bury needs $25K worth

By CHRIS PARKER
Staff Writer

SHAFTSBURY -- The snow was falling in some parts of Shaftsbury on Thursday but officials maintained that they haven't halted their drive to cap the town's landfill by winter's freeze.

One of the lead candidates for the project, Capitol Earthmoving, Inc. of Barre, is now calling on all farmers and landowners for clay to do the job. Lots of it.

Company representative Michael Pitonyak is offering $25,000 for 22,000 cubic yards that he plans to use to add a two-foot thick layer atop the 40-year-old landfill off North and Airport roads.

A five-week job

Select Board Chairman Wynn Metcalfe expects the work would take about five weeks to complete. Metcalfe said Thursday his board hasn't backed down from plans to cap the landfill this fall.

Kate Adams, an engineer with Williston-based KAS Consulting, said during a tour of the landfill site in May that the original plan was to have the project done by the time the snow started falling.

A bid request made at the time anticipated the work would be finished by Sept. 2. When bids came in too high, a revised bid request moved that date forward.

Pressure coming down

The town is still under state pressure to complete the project by next spring. Even so, there are no hard and fast deadlines, said James Surwilo, who is with the solid waste division of the state Agency of Natural Resources.

But Surwilo said the state also wasn't shying away from possibly setting a deadline for the project to be finished.

"It was out intention to see it capped this year but there was a recognition that wouldn't happen as time went on," he said. "If they don't cover it by the spring or a reasonable timeframe, we'll think of something (a deadline). There's no way this scenario will lay out again."

Current bids for the project are still too high for the Select Board's liking but officials are working closely anyway with Capitol, which bid $392,000. The cost to transport clay by rail from Florence-based OMYA alone was expected to cost about $400,000, a price town officials said was out of the question.

Metcalfe said he is confident the project would be completed by the spring. He said he was surprised at all the trials and tribulations that have come the town's way.

"Rather than say we're not going to cap it this year, we're saying we're looking for materials," said Metcalfe. "I am just amazed we haven't been able to find the material."

Any local company that has clay for sale should contact Town Administrator Aaron Chrostowsky at 442-4043 or Michael Pitonyak at 476-4833. Shaftsbury residents will be given preference.