See TRASH

(Continued from Page 1)

of nine years, back in January 2021, Township Manager Kathy Burger asked residents for their “patience” as the new hauler, Republic Services, took over in town and learned the collection routes.

But the patience of many Medford Township residents has been running thin in recent days, after reportedly thousands of households in the municipality, within the last month, went anywhere from several days to two to three weeks without seeing a garbage truck on their street, and amid a heatwave to boot, with several homeowners describing in phone calls to this newspaper, as well as online, an awful stench originating from the uncollected garbage that sat curbside in their neighborhoods, in addition to the spoiling contents purportedly attracting animals and other pests.

And according to several Medford Township residents, supported by a series of postings on the township’s official Facebook page, the latest string of delayed collections is on top of many other repeated delays in collection since Republic took over trash hauling in Medford just about a year-and-ahalf ago, with those individuals reporting no real significant problems that they can recall with the prior collector.

“Just tell me who to vote for!” declared one person online after the most recent string of issues. “I’m not fond of trash containers sitting out for days.”

Another asserted, “Republic is ‘trash.’”

Several other residents took aim at Medford Township Council for deciding to privatize collections in town nearly a decade ago, writing, “We should have never outsourced our trash ….” and “This administration shouldn’t have outsourced the trash to begin with.”

Burger, in later remarks at an Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, blamed the issues of the last month on Republic having “mechanical issues,” with three to four trucks broken down in one area alone, all while the firm, she revealed, also “experienced a shortage of drivers.”

But Burger maintained “other towns have had problems all along” with Republic that “had not affected us until two weeks ago,” at least not weeks’ worth of no solid waste and bulk trash collection, as had been reported to be an ongoing issue in several riverfront towns in Burlington County.

However, while Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson maintained “there had been none of this long-term stuff” in his municipality, he acknowledged there had been issues “a day here, a day there.”

Medford Township, on a number of occasions last year, notified its residents through Facebook, “Trash collection in some parts of Medford may be delayed,” or “Republic Services has again experienced delays collecting trash.”

Those type of postings from the township began becoming more numerous in February of this year, with “mechanical breakdowns,” “unforeseen circumstances,” and “staffing shortages” among the reasons cited by the township for Republic falling behind in collection.

The situation got to the point that by July 21, Medford Township posted on its Facebook page, “Medford Township officials have been and will continue assessing penalties against Republic Services for failure to perform trash collection services without delays.”

But Medford Township, even after reportedly assessing penalties, found itself again posting about collection delays on July 22, July 27, July 28, Aug. 2, Aug. 4, Aug. 9, Aug. 12, Aug. 15, Aug. 16 and Aug. 19, including that bulk trash pickup was also delayed in some areas of Medford.

And while the township advised residents in the Aug. 9 posting that “Republic Services continues to deploy additional resources to town to collect the missed trash from last week,” by the Aug. 15 posting, the municipality recognized “areas of Medford” have “not received trash collection in more than a week.”

Some shared that post reporting it had actually been as long as three weeks prior since they had last had their garbage collected.

A traffic message board, deployed on Stokes Road (also known as County Route 541), was even utilized to inform Medford Township residents of trash collection delays, urging them to keep their trash curbside for collection.

“Township officials are aware of the delays in collection and are exploring ‘options’ to help prevent this type of delay in the future,” it was posted on the Medford Township Facebook page. “Further updates will be provided as we receive updates from Republic officials. We appreciate your patience as we work through this temporary delay.”

Burger did not return a message from this newspaper, as of press time, seeking an explanation as to what those “options” are that are being considered.

However, during a Medford Township Council meeting the following day, Burger revealed she is “exploring what it would cost for us to bring it (trash collection) back in house.”

Council, back in November 2012, according to township meeting minutes, made the decision to privatize trash collection beginning in January 2013, citing the potential for up to a $350,000 “net annual savings” if as many as seven Public Works employees at a then-salary of $63,000 are terminated, though officials sought to “reassign” four of them.

It is unclear how many employees, who had been assigned trash collection, were ultimately let go from the township payroll, with Burger not responding to an inquiry about that.

Burger, township clerk of Medford at the time, was in the process of taking over the township manager post from Christopher Schultz, with the present-day Medford Township mayor, who is Watson, and Medford Township Deputy Mayor Frank Czekay, serving on the then-council as councilmen.

Casworth Enterprises, Inc., said to be one of four bidders at the time that the Medford Township ceased in house trash collection, was given the initial privatization contract. During the first year Casworth hauled trash for the municipality, the firm was paid $499,800 for its collection and disposal services.

Gold Medal, according to past Medford Township Council meeting minutes, in 2015, acquired Casworth Enterprises. Gold Medal charged the township $643,658 for its collection and disposal services during the final year of its most recent contract with the township (2020).

Watson, when Medford Township made the switch from Gold Medal to Republic, contended that the municipality saved over $300,000 through privatization.

Burger, at the time of Medford Township switching to Republic, did not disclose, and would not tell this newspaper when queried, the reason the municipality decided to switch from Gold Medal to Republic.

However, this newspaper previously reported that a December 2020 bid placed by Gold Medal to Medford Township for a three-year trash hauling contract, was for $1,105,799 in year one, $1,218,249 in year two, and $1,241,147 in the final year, for a total of $3,655,195.

If Medford Township would have awarded a contract to Gold Medal, it would have resulted in an over $400,000 annual increase in trash collection services, with a municipality often obligated to go with the lowest, responsible bidder when awarding a contract.

Republic, in a bid for the same contract, said it would charge Medford Township only $810,781.20 during its initial year of providing services, $840,124.80 in the second year and $870,477 in the final year, for a total of $2,521,383.

During the Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, Watson reiterated “we were saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by having them (a private contractor) doing it (trash hauling),” but acknowledged “it may not be that way now.”

Burger replied that she was “looking into all those figures,” and now has a “risk manager looking into the cost if we went back in-house.”

However, she pointed to the nationwide shortage of truck drivers and workers in general, asking, “What is the likelihood we are going to get drivers?” should the municipality actually proceed with bringing trash collection back in house.

“Are they going to chase the dollar and just hop from here to there?” she asked.

The Medford town manager also pointed to the nationwide shortage of large vehicles, including trash trucks, due to recent supply and demand issues in the U.S., declaring, “Who knows if we can even get a truck?”

“That being said, I still think we need to look into it for the longer term,” Watson contended.

Both neighboring Medford Lakes Borough and Southampton Township, at one point, also considered privatizing their trash collection in favor of achieving a possible cost savings.

However, both of those municipalities ultimately decided against it, siding with concerns that once workers are laid off and the equipment is sold off, it is hard to get them back, in addition to taking notice of instances throughout the region where a contractor initially comes in with a low figure to collect waste, only to raise the price substantially when it comes time to negotiating a new contract.

“It was interesting, I was recently on social media and there was a whole lot of kerfuffle in Medford about Republic trash,” said Medford Lakes Borough Manager Dr. Robert Burton during an August Medford Lakes Borough Council meeting. “And I think this is just another indication of why you don’t want to outsource your trash to a private company, because they are getting their trash picked up weeks late.”

The Medford Lakes Borough Council, Burton added, “made the right decision” in recently deciding to move forward with “getting another trash truck.”

“They are doing a great job and are helping to keep costs down, so hopefully we continue doing things that way,” said Burton of the situation in Medford Lakes.

William Fields, deputy mayor of Medford Lakes, pointed out that his wife receives Nixle emergency notifications from Medford Township, and “every week it has been ‘trash delay,’ ‘trash delay,’ and ‘trash delay.’”

“It is every week that it comes out,” Fields maintained. “I am so glad that we did not go that route and we have our own, especially with this past week and all the delays.”

Medford Township, however, has not been the only county municipality that has been affected by collection delays, particularly those involving Republic.

Watson acknowledged as much during the Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, in referencing what has been happening in Delran Township, for example.

“They have it way worse than we have it,” he said. “I spoke to the mayor there, and they are not happy. It is unreal what they are dealing with.”

According to Gary Catrambone, mayor of Delran, in one of several letters sent to residents of his town, “Delran, like many other municipalities, has experienced a considerable problem with the quality of trash collection; including missed collection issues that last for days, trash left on our streets, and leaking hydraulic fluid from poorly maintained vehicles.”

“More must be done to resolve these issues See TRASH/ Page 6