Senate Resolution No. 5192

BY: Senator VALESKY

COMMENDING James A. Zecca upon the occasion of his
retirement after more than 30 years of distinguished
service as the Director for the Madison County
Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body seeks to acknowledge those
individuals whose professional lives and civic endeavors serve to
enhance the stature of the State of New York; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend James A. Zecca upon the occasion of his retirement after more
than 30 years of distinguished service as the Director for the Madison
County Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation; and

WHEREAS, For more than three decades, James A. Zecca, affectionately
known as the Recycling Czar, has lived and breathed recycling; he began
his long and distinguished career in the 1970s when he started the first
recycling program at SUNY Cobleskill; and

WHEREAS, After leaving Schoharie County, James A. Zecca served as
the Recycling Center Supervisor in Wilton, New York, and then the Town
of Milford, New York; he next became the Recycling and Bio-solids
Composting Coordinator in New Hampshire; and

WHEREAS, In the late 1980s, James A. Zecca held the title of Mayor
of Oriskany Falls, New York; in this capacity, he initiated the first
mandatory curbside recycling program in Oneida County; and

WHEREAS, James A. Zecca became the Director of the Madison County
Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation in 1988, the position from
which he will officially retire in 2018; and

WHEREAS, Throughout his tenure, James A. Zecca has pursued various
solar energy and gas-to-energy initiatives, and has been on the
forefront of innovative "green" technology, propelling the Madison
County Landfill into the 21st Century; and

WHEREAS, Through James A. Zecca's leadership and vision, the Madison
County Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation has served as a model
for other waste facilities in New York State, across the country and
throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, Scientists, news reporters and those involved in the solid
waste industry from Australia, Ecuador, Russia and Sweden, along with
visitors from across the United States, have toured the Buyea Road
landfill site seeking information on renewable energy from James A.
Zecca; and

WHEREAS, Under the luminous leadership of James A. Zecca, Madison
County was the first municipality to close its landfill with
energy-generating solar technology; the landfill features the Carlisle's
Spectro Power Cap Solar Cover system which provides superior

environmental protection as a landfill closure system while also
generating clean, renewable energy; and

WHEREAS, James A. Zecca has taken a small, insignificant landfill
site from a mound of trash buried in a cell with a clay liner to an
energy efficient facility; Madison County's landfill is a paradigm for
solid waste experts and those seeking to emulate the green initiatives
in practice there; and

WHEREAS, James A. Zecca's latest project has been centered on
establishing a plastics-to-energy facility at the newly created
Agriculture and Renewable Energy Park on Buyea Road next to the landfill
site; he hopes to establish a regional collection site for agricultural
and rigid plastics that would be turned into synthetic gas or diesel;
one such facility would provide much needed jobs for the area and save
the county thousands of dollars in energy costs; and

WHEREAS, For his steadfast and unremitting commitment to his
profession and the environment, James A. Zecca was the recipient of the
2014 New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
(NYSAR3) Leadership Award for Life Time Achievement; and

WHEREAS, James A. Zecca rendered faithful, conscientious and
valuable service to the Madison County Department of Solid Waste and
Sanitation; in his capacity as Director, he served with loyalty, honor
and distinction, and was governed by a keen sense of duty; and

WHEREAS, During his tenure with the Madison County Department of
Solid Waste and Sanitation, he earned the admiration, esteem and
affection of his colleagues; and

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that those who
enhance the quality of life in their community and have shown a long and
sustained commitment to the maintenance of high standards in their
profession, certainly have earned the recognition and applause of all
the citizens of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend James A. Zecca upon the occasion of his retirement after more
than 30 years of distinguished service as the Director for the Madison
County Department of Solid Waste and Sanitation, and to wish him
continued success in all future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to James A. Zecca.