Babylon holds public hearing on plan to drop license fees for garbage haulers

The Town of Babylon is holding a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to drop license fees for its commercial and residential garbage haulers.

The town currently charges Winters Brothers and EnCon Industries Corp. $1,000 for a Class 2 license, which town law states is “required of all persons engaged in the collection and transportation of garbage, refuse, solid waste and recyclable material within an improvement area authorized pursuant to a contract with the Town to collect and transport solid waste, garbage, refuse or recyclable material.”

The companies are also charged $50 for each “truck, rolloff and compactor used by the licensee.”

The town is proposing eliminating these annual fees, which amount to about $2,000 per year for each company.

Tim Ruggeri, spokesman for the town, said officials felt that because the companies were already the lowest bidders for the contracts, the fees are unnecessary and only serve to add another layer of bureaucracy.

A public hearing on the proposal will be held Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Babylon Town Hall in Lindenhurst.