Murrysville, Export, Delmont all prepare for garbage collection contracts to expire
Apr. 14—After entering into a trash and recycling contract structured to end the same time as their neighbors Murrysville and Export — in order to negotiate a new contract together — Delmont officials appear poised to go it alone.
Murrysville Council voted April 7 to advertise for a new five-year contract on trash and recycling that also includes Export.
But Delmont Councilman Dennis Urban said he would like to see the borough change its current ordinance to permit more than one hauler, essentially putting individual residents in charge of arranging to have their garbage hauled.
Councilman David Weber disagreed, concerned that reverting to the borough's pre-2017 hauling situation would cause residents to pay higher prices and not have access to recycling.
Those are the reasons borough officials cited when they chose to pursue the current Republic Services contract.
"If they have a passion for recycling, they can pay to have it," Urban said. "And someone like me, who isn't interested in it, I shouldn't have to pay for it. This is America, after all. We should be able to choose."
Delmont has about 2,700 residents, so it doesn't meet the 5,000-resident threshold where the state's Act 101 makes recycling mandatory.
The borough also lost its homegrown recycling program in 2016, when borough council required the local Lions Club to relocate its recycling program in order to avoid a potential state environmental violation on its property.
"I think there are a lot of people in the community who still want to have recycling," Weber said.
"That may be, but there's also a lot of people who don't," Urban countered.
Weber suggested hosting a town hall-style meeting to gauge residents' thoughts on the current state of hauling in the borough and the future of the contract.
The current Republic Services contracts with Delmont, Murrysville and Export do not expire until the end of September.
When council entered into the contract in 2017, Solicitor Dan Hewitt said joining with Murrysville and Export would provide all three communities more leverage in contract negotiations.
Murrysville & Export
In Murrysville, Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said the advertised bid proposes to add automated trash collection in addition to automated recycling.
"From the hauler's point of view, it reduces the hauler's worker compensation claims, and it reduces the time workers have to get out the vehicle," Morrison said.
The new contract would not use exclusively automated hauling, he added; residents would still be able to put additional bags at the curb.
"But we would also go to a standard type of garbage can for residents," Morrison said.
That cost is typically either paid upfront or spread over several quarterly bills.
For Export, the contract specifies that Republic must service the borough using single-axle trucks only, with the exception of three larger streets.
Borough officials have complained numerous times about larger trucks damaging curbs, and have had their own issues with Republic Services over the course of the current contract.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
