Faced with few options, Hellertown Borough Council somewhat reluctantly approved a one-year contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons of Allentown for the borough’s recycling hauling in 2016.
Borough manager Cathy Hartranft explained that Mascaro–the borough’s current recycling hauler–was the only company to submit bids for the new contract.
The one-year contract will cost $81,000, which financial administrator Tina Krasnansky said is $842 more per month than the cost of the current contract.
Some of the price increase could be passed on to borough residents if a proposed $15 annual increase in the household recycling fee is included in the borough’s 2016 final approved budget.
There is no property tax increase proposed in the draft budget for 2016.
Councilman Mike McKenna asked if the one-year contract with Mascaro would provide the borough with “any muscle…with missed collections?”
Council president Tom Rieger explained that it will include the same language as the current contract, which Hartranft said allows the borough to fine the company if they fail to meet their contractual obligations.
There have been issues with missed pickups in the past, which Rieger alluded to and Mascaro general manager Christopher Caras–who was present at the meeting–acknowledged.
To help address those issues, the pickup day was moved from Monday to Tuesday.
The pickup issues have subsided recently, but Rieger said he is concerned that with the higher employee turnover the company typically experiences during the cold winter months, missed pickups could again become a problem in Hellertown.
He also brought up a recent news story about the borough of Emmaus and its contract with Mascaro.
Rieger said Emmaus officials levied fines on Mascaro for a breach of its trash-hauling contract. He said the article contained an inaccuracy because it quoted a company official stating there have not been complaints about its service by other municipalities.
“We’ve complained and complained,” he said. “According to their district manager in that article, nobody else complains about their service. We complained.”
“My understanding was issues had subsided quite a bit,” Caras said. “I enjoy doing business with the borough. We’d like to keep doing business with you as long as we can.”
He told council the Emmaus fines were later “rescinded.”
Council approved the one-year recycling contract recommended by borough staff by a vote of 4-1, with Rieger voting against it.
A two-year contract at a cost of $165,000 and a three-year contract at a cost of $253,000 were the other options proposed by Mascaro in their bid documents.
