Aaron Gustafson, right, with the Chautauqua County Landfill, speaks at the Administrative Services Committee meeting.

A former Chautauqua County employee who went on to become a state representative is apparently concerned about the county’s landfill commission.

During the legislature’s Public Facilities Committee meeting, members were asked to appoint Angela Ricotta with TitanX Engine Cooling Inc. and Paul Snyder with the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities to the landfill commission.

One county lawmaker who has consistently objected to the landfill commission since its inception last year has been Susan Parker, D-Fredonia. During Tuesday’s committee meeting, Parker said she received a phone call from former Assemblyman Bill Parment about the commission.

Parker noted how Parment was head of the county’s Department of Public Facilities before entering politics. “He said he’s very concerned … that it’s not in the public’s interest to have a private company (on the commission),” she said.

The commission is made up of two county legislators, one Ellery Town Board member, a large municipal customer, a large private customer, a waste hauler, and a representative of a community hosting a county transfer station.

Parker and a handful of other legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, questioned the need for the commission when it was first formed last year. Still, the majority of the legislature agreed to the commission and it was permitted to be formed. The commission has no legal authority, but can advise and advocate for changes at the landfill. Any changes, including pricing, must be done by the legislature.

Parker tried to get private businesses removed from the commission but her proposal failed. Parment apparently agreed with Parker about not wanting private businesses on the commission. “Government is not a business. Solid waste is like roads and bridges. I guess he (Parment) called me because he had some concerns about commission and the purpose of the commission,” she said.

After she spoke, committee Chairman John Hemmer, R-Westfield, thanked Parker for her comments. The committee backed the two appointments. Final approval is still required by the full legislature, which will be meeting April 26.