Single-hauler bids rejected

Council debating whether to switch to 1 trash company for entire town

Borough council has voted to reject a set of bids for a single trash hauler, and will now need to consider whether to seek another set of bids.

“I don’t think this will be an end to the matter,” said Councilman Jason Van Dame.

Since last year, borough council members and staff have been discussing whether the borough should choose one trash company to collect trash for the entire town, instead of the current system whereby residents can choose their own firms. Last summer borough officials held a series of public meetings to talk trash, and those discussions led council to authorize a request for proposals in January, seeking hard numbers from interested firms.

Earlier this month, staff reported back that four firms did respond, but problems were found with each bid, and the borough’s legal counsel advised that the bids be thrown out instead of taking nay action.

Council did vote to reject the bids Wednesday night, and Councilman Jack Hansen said he thought that vote should be the end of the conversation.

“This is something that I am glad that we are rejecting at this time. I wish this would go away. I’ve never been in favor of the borough getting into the trash business,” Hansen said.

Over the past several weeks, Hansen said, he nearly all of the residents he has spoken to said they would prefer to keep their own company.

“I won’t say ‘all,’ but the vast majority have said they like staying with their own private haulers, for the basic reason that if they have a problem, they can fire their hauler, and get rid of them,” Hansen said.

Any complaints about a single hauler would likely be handled by the borough or its solicitor, and Hansen said while he has no doubt those representatives could do the job, he thought it would be inappropriate for the borough to force one choice on the

residents.

“Let them hire their own haulers. I hope we reject this tonight, and I hope we will end this, and get back to other business,” he said.

Van Dame countered by saying he has heard residents make the case for a single hauler: fewer trucks on local roads, less wear and tear on those roads, and the possibility of a lower price than what some pay now.

“I also talk to a lot of residents who, when educated on a lot of the reasons, understand

why it is really a good idea, and something that we should pursue,” Van Dame said.

“We have a couple of surveys that show interest in it. We had a public meeting that showed a lot of interest in it,” he said.

Of the firms that responded to the recent request for proposals, the lowest bidder produced a price of roughly $236 per year per residential unit, or just shy of $20 per month, which may or may not be comparable to what residents

pay their private haulers now.

“I’m looking forward, and hoping to get, before too long, some legal, competitive bids in, Then we can really put this matter to rest, one way or the other,” Van Dame said.

Council voted unanimously to reject the bids, and Van Dame said the administration and finance committee, of which he is chairman, will discuss whether to proceed with seeking more bids.

Could that happen as

soon as next month? “We’ll see. If it’s up to me, yes. That’s my intent — I don’t know that it’s the intent of the rest of council. We’ll see what happens next month,” Van Dame said.

Lansdale Borough Council next meets at 9 p.m. on June 7, with various council committees meeting starting at 7 p.m. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.