By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Leaf and brush collection can be done for less money in the consolidated Princeton, a proposal showed Wednesday.
Details were laid out during a Transition Task Force meeting in which task force member Brad Middlekauff outlined a plan for a mix of bagged and unbagged collection during the year. He said the proposal seeks to rationalize current collection systems in the towns, with the cost $217,900 less than what the towns pay combined today.
The savings come chiefly through eliminating summer time collection, except in a still undefined “central Princeton” area that would get collection every two weeks. The savings are not in actual dollars that will reduce the municipal budget or taxes, but rather in manpower time and operating costs. Freeing up those manpower hours will mean public works employees can handle other tasks, such as grass cutting or roadwork, officials said. The Task Force voted, 10-0, to send the proposal for the two municipalities’ governing bodies to consider. But Borough Councilwoman Jo S. Butler, a member of the task force, expressed some reservations about a proposal that achieves savings through what she saw as a reduction in service.
Requiring current borough residents to bag their waste is an added cost to landscapers or residents, she said. At the moment, the borough does not require leaves and brush to be bagged.
In other business, task force member Scott Sillars said transition-related costs are estimated to be around $1.5 million to $1.7 million, although that figure does not include what it will cost to renovate the two municipal buildings and harmonize the salaries in the police department.
Officials have said they still do not know what renovations will cost, an issue that is expected to come up at a joint meeting of the two governing bodies on Oct.1.
