RED BANK – The borough will no longer be collecting residents’ trash.
At a special meeting that was held on Aug 17, the Borough Council accepted a bid from DeLisa Demolition Inc., of Tinton Falls, to provide waste management services and recycling pickup, which are currently being provided by the borough’s Department of Public Works.
The new service, which will be paid for out of tax revenues, will begin Sept. 1 and will run though Aug. 31, 2018.
DeLisa, which submitted the lowest of five competing bids, offered the borough a three-year contract for $1.488 million, or $496,000 a year.
The other four bids submitted ranged from $1.617 million to $2.396 million.
Under the contract, the cost to the borough for solid waste pickup will be $400,000 a year and $96,000 for recyclable.
The contract includes a clause for a twoyear extension, said Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels.
Should the borough opt to extend the contract, the total cost for five years would be $2.5 million.
“There is no change to the service. Everything will stay the same,” said Sickels about pick up times and schedules, which will remain the same, as will trash and recycling receptacles.
The move is expected to save the borough around $200,000 in its first year, according to Sickels.
The real savings are going to come in the form of hidden costs, according to Mayor Pasquale Menna.
By outsourcing trash collection, the borough will no longer be responsible for vehicle replacement or servicing equipment.
According to Sickels, the borough currently has four garbage trucks. The two newest will be kept for leaf, brush and snow removal while the older two will be sold off.
The Department of Public Works currently has around 31 employees and there will be no layoffs, according to Sickels, who said personnel would be reallocated to other borough departments.
The resolution drew both praise and criticism from members of the public during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Freddie Boynton, a former DPW employee, slammed the resolution, saying that the same plan was tried in Eatontown and didn’t work out.
Another resident, Tom Wieczerzak, applauded the council on the move.
“I like the direction [the council is] going with this,” he said before the vote took place.
The council vote in favor of the contract was unanimous. Councilman Edward Zipprich, who is DPW liaison, was absent.
Borough officials acknowledged they will need to educate residents about the change.
“We have to get information to people in terms of who they call if there is a problem. A lot of information has to go out,” said Menna.