By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
Reinstating bulky waste pickup service was again a topic at the Hopewell Township Committee meeting on June 13.
The pickups were stopped in the aftermath of a fire in March 2015 that damaged the Department of Public Works building and more than 20 DPW vehicles parked inside the building’s garage. The truck that had been used for the bulky waste program was among the vehicles deemed unfit for service.
Committee members mainly debated whether to restart curbside pickup of bulky waste, which includes large items such as old furniture, or set up a system by which residents drop off bulky waste items at Dumpsters in town on designated dates.
Committee members John Hart and Julie Blake seemed to favor the drop-off option after receiving feedback from residents, while Mayor Kevin Kuchinski said individuals he spoke with preferred curbside pickup.
“They want their old service back,” the mayor said.
Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom repeated a suggestion she made at a previous Township Committee meeting to ask residents by way of an online survey what kind of bulky waste program they want.
Ms. Sandom also said that all the costs associated to run the bulky waste program should be presented to residents by way of a survey.
She recommended Hopewell Township use a software tool like one called Budget Allocator (budgetallocator.com) — a commercially available online participatory budgeting program designed to involve citizens in creating community budgets. The cost of the software is about $4,000, according to the committeewoman.
Committeeman Todd Brant said he is skeptical about the township’s ability to pose survey questions in an unbiased way.
Hopewell Township Attorney Steven Goodell cautioned the committee that once the township implements an online survey, the survey responses become public records that can be available to anyone through Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests.
Mayor Kuchinski suggested that for the first scheduled Township Committee meeting in July, township staff present the costs associated with the two main options for bulky waste discussed so that the fee to charge residents for the service can be calculated.
The mayor also suggested the Township Committee during the same upcoming meeting in July make a decision whether to implement the online survey recommended by Committeewoman Sandom.
