BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

CANTON – It appears the consensus of the Canton Village Board is keeping a much-improved composting program alive, although dedicated adequate funding for the food scrap drop off site is in question.

Catherine Shrady, chair of the village’s Sustainability Committee, addressed the board at its monthly meeting on Wednesday night, seeking an extension to an initial three-month trial period for the rejuvenated compost site.

“Please consider options at the end of the trial period in January,” said Shrady, citing the elimination of problems identified by village officials. “Over a ton of food waste [2,694 pounds) has been saved from the landfill.”

Mayor Michael Dalton pointed to the financial side of the program.

“You have done a good job trying to eliminate the problems but the biggest thing is trying to find funding for this,” the mayor stated. “Things are really tight.”

“The important thing for us is how do we fund this. The board needs to have a global view and at some point see some support to help fund this," Dalton added.

Shrady told village officials that the committee has been working with North Country Compost (NCC) who have set in motion a compost site that now features an open dumpster to two sealed and local 96-gallon totes and requires users to sign up for free access to the coded lock. Signs at the site provide a QR code that links to an online form where the email, name and primary residence of the user are recorded. Also, the containers are emptied weekly.

She said the committee is exploring grant opportunities.

 There was talk about a liaison now on board to engage with the community to promote the program and educate the public about the overall benefits of composting.

Trustee Barbara Beekman said she would like to give the liaison a chance to work before possibly shutting down the program.

It was also noted the village is the sole contributor to the food scrap dump site, although a handful of town residents are using it.

Beekman encouraged people in attendance to contact town board members to seek their support.

“This will be part of our conversation during budget season. Six thousand dollars doesn’t look like much but we have a lot of expenses,” Dalton said.