Trash Pickup Schedule to Change in Pemberton’s Mirror Lake Area

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The schedule for trash pickup in a section of Browns Mills in Pemberton Township is going to be changed “beginning with the week of April 17” as the township is reportedly working with its trash hauler, Seaside Waste, also known as South Jersey Sanitation, to “control costs” amid what has been described as a “really difficult time” for the waste industry.

Residents of nearly 200 streets will be impacted by the change in the “Mirror Lake area” of Browns Mills, according to a posting on the municipality’s website, which included both a street listing and map for the area affected.

“At the last meeting, I mentioned we are trying to work with our trash contractor on some ideas to try and control costs,” said Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel during a March 15 Pemberton Township Council meeting. “They have advised us they would like us to change one section of Browns Mills from a Wednesday and Saturday pickup, to a Wednesday and Friday pickup.”

Since the township’s contract with its hauler “doesn’t indicate that they are required to collect trash six days a week,” the business administrator reported to the council that, “We don’t really have a way to resist this.”

Pemberton’s current contract with Seaside commenced in April 2019 and ends in March 2024, according to the business administrator, with the company currently charging the municipality $10.69 per dwelling, or what he said, “comes out to around $88,000 per month.” was an impromptu addition and is expected to be delivered shortly, needed to make it fully operational. The facility’s window, however, is already being used for what Deputy Chief Raymond Shields, in a phone interview, called “Denver drills”— that is, maneuvers demonstrating how best for firemen to get in and out of windows and small areas.

“This is probably in our benefit to do this (implement the scheduling change) because this is a really difficult time for the waste hauling industry,” Hornickel declared.

“It’s going to be used for all our training props and stuff we were planning on building but had no room for,” said Shields, who served as the fire company’s official liaison with Dozier for his Eagle Scout project.

“He (Dozier) put in a lot of hard work, the shed came out great, and it was definitely needed by the fire company for our training purposes.”

Joy Dozier said her son, who is currently a junior at two different schools – The King’s Christian School in Cherry Hill and Dwight Global On-Line High School in New York City, may decide to keep volunteering with his troop, or may transition to the Sea Scouts (a BSA program for young men and women ages 14-20), since he is already a member of a crew and is now looking to attend a maritime academy. In the meantime, however, Heffernan, his current scoutmaster, expressed pride in that he achieved in the process of striving for the organization’s highest rank.

“William did well demonstrating leadership during his challenging Eagle project,” Heffernan said, “And we were pleased he held his Eagle Court of Honor at the firehouse.”