Sustainability and solid waste management director named

CANANDAIGUA â€" Ontario County will start the new year with a new Sustainability and Solid Waste Management Department and a new director of that department.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Thursday to endorse the recommendations of a search committee, County Administrator Mary Krause and the board’s Planning & Environmental Quality Committee to name Carla Jordan of Victor to the position, effective Jan. 1. Her starting salary will be $97,282.

The new department will be staffed with employees now working for the county’s Planning Department and at the Ontario County Landfill. Two employees have been transferred to the new department from the planning department, along with eight employees in the public works department who work at the landfill.

In a news release issued Friday, Krause said the board approved forming the new department in November and voted Thursday night to name Jordan to head the department.

She said Jordan will oversee the county landfill in the town of Seneca, recycling programs and other solid waste management activities.

“The establishment of this specialized department reflects a mutual desire of the Board of Supervisors and county administrator to focus on this critical planning need in Ontario County,’’ Krause said.

“We have taken several measures over the past few years through the local solid waste management plan to enhance the county’s effort to be responsible environmental stewards and to inspire residents to join us in this mission,’’ Krause added. “The move to establish this new department is a natural progression and outcome of this focus.’’

Jordan’s appointment is for two years. She served as a regional engineering manager for Casella Waste Services, which operates the county landfill under contract. She left Casella to join the county Planning Department in 2014, where she was associate planner responsible for implementing the county’s 10-year, state-approved Solid Waste Management Plan.

Jordan’s job as associate planner will not be refilled at this time. Krause said staffing in the planning and sustainability and solid waste management departments will be evaluated during 2019.

Jordan could not be reached for comment Friday.