Trash bill will jump by only $5

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:48 AM EST

POTTSTOWN — Believe it or not, there is some good news to come out of the borough's budget deliberations.Considering the increases in fuel costs predicted for the next three years; the increases in landfill tipping fees and all other costs of doing business, Borough Council Monday adopted a new three-year contract with the current trash hauler, J.P. Mascaro, that will raise residents' trash bills by exactly $5.A number of alternates were built into the bid to allow for a number of potentially money-saving possibilities, Public Works Director Doug Yerger explained to council Monday night. Not the least of these is a monthly pickup for yard waste that will pull grass clippings, hedge trimmings and brush out of the waste stream and thus off the scale at the landfill, lowering tipping fee totals.Another way to keep those numbers down is increased recycling and the new 65-gallon recycling containers that are to be issued to residents. This will help increase recycling and reduce the trash that goes to the landfill at a higher cost, said Councilman Stephen Toroney, a longtime member of the trash committee.

The larger recycling containers will allow all recycling, paper, plastic and metal, to be deposited in one place, said Yerger."This is a big opportunity to save significant dollars," Yerger said of the new recycling effort.The contract will continue to provide twice-a-week trash pickup as well as the current sticker system for bulk pickup."We think the people who throw away bulk items should pay for it," said Toroney. "It only costs $15 for small items and $25 for white items. You try getting someone to cart something away for $25 these days.""This could have been worse," Yerger said of the bid numbers. "I was very worried about the high cost of fuel."Councilman Jody Rhoads, who cast the only vote against the contract, said charging everyone the same for trash pickup continues to have those who throw out small amounts subsidizing the cost of those who generate more trash."Perhaps the poor, the low-volume users, the elderly, the retired and our citizens in general could combine their concerns about the inequality of the trash situation into one loud scream that would penetrate the eardrums of those who have continually ignored the pleas for fairness," Rhoads said."Saying you are getting a good deal since you can put out all the trash you want is just saying increase our tonnage and increase our bill," he said."This is part of living in a community, of living in a society," Toroney said. "I send no kids to the schools, but I pay my school taxes proudly.""You complain you don't want to be a part of this, then go somewhere else," he added.Council President David Garner agreed, saying, "The numbers we received are amazing under the circumstances. I think having a $5 fixed increase for the next three years is fairly incredible," he said. "I think Mr. Yerger did a great job in breaking this down into its component parts to make it attractive to the bidder.""I hope recycling will reduce the tonnage in the trash system," Garner added.The borough may also look at ways to limit the number of trash containers residents can put out."As a society, we throw out far too much," he said.
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