North Huntingdon residents could see a jump of about $25 per quarter in their trash bills next year under a new four-year contract expected to be approved by commissioners, and the rates would increase each year through 2025.
A change in how garbage is collected is part of the reason for the price increase, as residents would put their garbage into a 96-gallon bin and recyclables in 65-gallon bins provided by the proposed hauler, Waste Management Inc. of Houston.
Township Manager Jeff Silka and Assistant Manager Mike Turley are “very confident” in recommending that commissioners approve the contract with Waste Management.
“It’s a very competitive bid. This is the best option,” Turley said, considering the increase in recycling costs and expenses because of the pandemic.
Under the terms of the contract, residents would pay $25.75 per month or $77.25 per quarter in 2022; $80.34 per quarter in 2023; $83.55 per quarter in 2024; and $86.88 per quarter in 2025, for what the company refers to as its “automated collection,” where bins are lifted and dumped by equipment on the truck.
Republic Services of Phoenix bid $31.44 per month or $94.32 per quarter in the first year, to $34.35 per month or $103.25 per quarter in 2025.
Waste Management would provide the wheeled carts and the cost is included in the trash hauling fee, Silka said. Township officials calculated that Waste Management was adding $4 per bin to its fee of $21.69 per month from two years ago.
Senior citizens could still purchase a minimum of 24 bags at $2.50 per bag, to put their limited trash out for pickup, or opt for a 65-gallon bin.
Bulk items would be collected once a month under the new deal. Unlimited trash collection for residents is not an option, as that service was driving up costs, Turley said.
The current trash hauler, County Hauling LLC of Rostraver, was awarded a four-year contract beginning in January 2020, and is charging residents $51 per quarter this year.
The company was the target of numerous complaints from residents and the township about its service. County Hauling and North Huntingdon agreed in July to mutually terminate the contract at the end of the year, after only two years.
If the township were to opt for what Waste Management calls its “manual option” — with employees lifting garbage cans and dumping them into the back of the truck — residents would page $43.48 per month, or $130 per quarter.
The automated collection is the most cost effective and productive system and allows the trucks to be operated by just one person said Erika D. Young, a Waste Management spokeswoman in Moon. The automated system provides a safer work environment for employees because they no longer have to perform the highly demanding manual labor involved with picking heavy material up from the ground, Young said.
The trucks have arms have arms that bend and extend to grab the wheeled carts designed for the collection trucks, lift the carts and tip them, allowing gravity to open the lid and let the garbage fall on either side of the truck or into a front work bucket, depending upon the truck model, said Janet Prichard, Republic Services municipal sales senior manager for the Northeast.
“The industry and economics are driving us to an automated system,” at a time when the demand for labor and trucks has impacted the industry, Turley noted.
The pandemic closed truck manufacturing plants, and the backlog of orders remains an issue for the waste hauling industry, said Janet Prichard, Republic Services Municipal Sales senior manager for the Northeast.
The shortage of drivers with a commercial driving license “has been a major concern well before the pandemic, and has only become worse since the beginning of the pandemic,” Prichard said.
One of the problems that have plagued haulers is the delinquency rate among residential customers, Turley said. The hauler bills the residents and there is a 10% delinquency rate. While the township cannot force customers to pay, code enforcement can cite homeowners for not properly disposing of trash, he said.
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