Petition on Twin Bridges in Moreau gains over 1K signatures

MOREAU, N.Y. (NEWS10) - This week, residents in the town of Moreau sounded off against the sale of land at the town industrial park to the owner of Twin Bridges Waste & Recycling. A petition for permissive referendum was presented to the town clerk on Monday after accumulating just over 1,003 signatures.

In June, the Moreau Town Board sold three parcels of land at Moreau Industrial Park to current Twin Bridges owner Scott Earl - who is in the process of selling the Clifton Park-based business to Casella Waste Systems of Vermont. In a conversation with NEWS10, Town Supervisor Todd Kusnierz said he did not know if actual waste management would take place there, and Earl did not return requests for comment.

That's left town residents hungry for answers. The petition effort was spearheaded by Gina LeClair, organizer of the Not Moreau group on Facebook, first founded in 2022 in opposition to an ongoing biochar plant project also based around the municipal center. Starting in late June, volunteers began knocking on the doors of Moreau residents, seeking signatures to call for more information on what Twin Bridges and Casella would be doing at the park.

The effort needed at least 320 signatures in order to reach the 5% minimum head count of town residents required in order to be filed. The group ended up with 1,003 signatures. In an interview with NEWS10 last month, LeClair said that extra signatures help keep the petition valid in case some have to be thrown out.

Now, the petition will go through the Moreau Town Clerk to a judge. According to Kusnierz, the details residents are hoping for will come from the town planning board and Scott Earl - with Casella's role less clear. The land comprises 10.5 acres, sold to Twin Bridges for $750,000. Casella also has a contract in place with Saratoga Biochar to cooperate on the management of its plant at the park, upon its completion.