STONE HARBOR – At Stone Harbor Borough Council’s April 5 work session, Councilman Reese Moore presented a series of proposals for improving trash collection.
Moore chairs the borough’s standing committee on Public Works and presented the proposals as the result of committee deliberations.
In 2021, the trash pickup function was seriously impacted by the inability of the borough to attract sufficient summer staff for the summer season’s twice-a-week collection process.
Now, with the 2022 season just weeks away, many of the proposals from the committee are likely to be coming too late for an introduction before 2023, leaving the borough hopeful that staffing the summer positions in 2022 will not be as difficult a task as it was last year.
To have influenced the process for 2022, the committee would’ve had to complete its deliberations last fall rather than this spring.
Moore said the proposals were aimed at improving the “safety and efficiency” of solid waste collection. He enumerated six recommendations.
In none of the recommendations is there any change anticipated in the basic service that has borough personnel retrieve and replace trash receptacles from their location on the property, a process that some borough officials have termed the “concierge” service.
The first set of changes the committee is recommending have the borough moving to mechanical systems for loading the solid waste into the trucks.
Moore recommended having the borough purchase two “tippers” per truck at an estimated total cost of between $120,000 and $185,000. The tippers, or lifters as some term them, do the task of lifting the trash receptacles and depositing the solid waste in the trash trucks.
Moore laid out a timetable for the purchase of the equipment, which would have a procurement award made by May 3, with a subsequent six to eight-week delivery horizon post-award.
Closely related to the first recommendation is the next one that would require property owners to purchase standard-sized and defined 64-gallon receptacles designed to work with the lifting equipment. The borough, Moore said, would expect voluntary compliance by May 2023.
The third recommendation deals with the establishment of a convenient trash collection center at the marina or Public Works area for self-collected drop-off of trash during specific hours.
Moore was reminded by Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour that such a collection center in that location does not fit with plans the borough has for the area. Moore responded that this would not be a permanent aspect of the trash collection options, although he anticipated it being used for the next few years.
Fourth on Moore’s list of recommendations was a solid waste summer employee incentive program that financially rewards seasonal workers who meet certain requirements, which Moore did not detail. He said the borough might seek to implement a trial of such a program in 2022.
Next, Moore discussed plans to separate the trash collection process for residential customers from that used in the commercial district. Moore said a request for proposals (RFP) was nearing completion and would be used to seek bids from private companies for trash collection in the commercial district beginning in 2023.
Lastly, Moore said the committee was preparing proposed changes to the borough ordinance covering solid waste management. Those changes, presented in draft form in a document that accompanied the work session agenda, specified the home trash receptacles that property owners would purchase.
They also set regulations for the placement of the receptacles at the home and the nature of the surface path that would be convenient for the transport of the receptacles to the curb by borough personnel.
In the draft proposal, the property owner would designate a spot for the receptacles that is within 60 feet of the curb line and not within a pool area or pet enclosure. The property owner would also provide an unobstructed, smooth, hard surface for wheeling the 64-gallon receptacles to the curb. Loose stone or grass surfaces would not be acceptable.
One problem noted by Davies-Dunhour is that such a requirement may increase the impervious surface area of the borough just as sustainability concerns look to decrease such surfaces.
There was not much in-depth debate on the proposals in the work session. The council will have to weigh in on the proposals since they involve large purchases, staffing incentives, and ordinance changes.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
