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currently provide, with them often hauling away larger items (which private firms tend to do only on a limited basis, if at all, and should they do it, there is often a fee) without issue, in addition to being content the municipal trash program, as is, employs many locals.
Committeeman James F. Young Sr., in 2017, when he was serving as Southampton mayor, pointed out during a governing body quarrel on the topic that “when I first came onto this committee, the first thing that was said to me was, ‘Whatever you do—never, never, never touch the trash.’”
But earlier this year, Southampton residents had heard from Ryan Hagerthey, manager of Southampton Township’s DPW, who didn’t mince words as he appeared before the Southampton committee on May 18, describing that the “last few months has been, I guess, a struggle with trash” and that is “what I have been doing – trash – trying to keep it alive for the last month.”
According to Hagerthey, two of the township’s three trash trucks, were beyond their useful life and, at the time, offline with mechanical troubles, and the municipality was reportedly relying on used trash trucks from other municipalities because of the circumstances. Some of the latter equipment was in such disrepair that Hagerthey admitted to having to spend late nights at the Southampton DPW garage to perform repairs.
Hagerthey noted at the time that the Southampton’s ageing equipment was the result of the governing body putting off new equipment investments as it debated whether to pursue privatization. The Southampton Public Works director, in calling the situation “dire” at the time, pleaded with the Southampton committee to arrive at a decision as soon as possible for the good of the DPW, though he cautioned that any decision should be well “thought out.”
“You can’t buy one truck, and buy another one five years later, and expect to stay in this trash business,” said Hagerthey at the time. “It just doesn’t work that way! The newest truck we have is a 2019. The other one is a 2013, and that is on the verge of needing to have fabrication.”
Despite Heston’s Oct. 20 declaration, Mikulski, after announcing on Oct. 19 that there were no bids, maintained that the Southampton governing body did not have the opportunity to discuss yet “whether we want to go with a tipper (automated collection trucks that have the capacity of auto-loading specialized trash carts) or be part of a rebid” as he had just received the information on the bid status the morning of the latest Southampton committee meeting, adding that even if the public body went ahead and purchased a new trash truck now for DPW, it would be at least 18 months until one is received due to national supply chain issues.
“And now that (receiving no bids) gets added into the evaluation of what we are doing,” Mikulski said. “… We are continuing to ‘fact-find.’”
That being said, the Southampton mayor noted, “There is no change on the horizon right now.”
Hagerthey, when he appeared before the Southampton committee in May, provided several possible options that officials could pursue.
Among them were that the Southampton committee could purchase new “rear loaders,” like the existing trash trucks in the township fleet, or purchase “One-Armed Bandit” trash trucks, known as the cart tippers or automated collection trucks.
Hagerthey suggested the latter was the best option if the township maintained trash collection services in-house because it would eliminate the need for workers to be stationed on the backs of any trash trucks while they are in motion, and having to get on-and-off them to lift garbage bags/cans, thereby reducing the risk of injuries.
He added that he “doesn’t know” that privatization is the Southampton’s best option, pointing out that the municipality “can get a great deal and then you can get it on the backend after the (initial) contract is up.”
“And in talking to neighboring towns that have privatized, they are getting back into
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the trash business as they are not happy with the services, and they are not getting the bids on people picking their trash up,” said Hagerthey at the time.
The Pine Barrens Tribune learned through a new tip that just a couple weeks prior to the bidding process involving both Southampton and Springfield townships concluding, one area trash hauler sent Southampton Administrator Kathleen D. Hoffman a press release from Delran Township “for her knowledge.”
In that release, Delran Township announced that it had “sent bid packages out to all the major trash companies that service this area and allowed a 60-day response period to promote competition,” but that only its current provider, Republic Services, placed a bid, which was “in the amount of $822,030 for the first year.”
“This reflects a significant increase of $363,138 over the previous contract amount of $458,892,” noted Delran Township officials in the press release, calling it “regrettable that only one company submitted a bid.”
Following the issuance of the news release, Delran Mayor Gary Catrambone wrote a note to residents calling the decision “difficult,” adding that he “understood and shares” the frustration Delran residents have in being “forced to endure such a huge increase in cost for no change in service.”
“I would also like to address a concern regarding the way municipal solid waste companies are approaching bids in ALL townships in New Jersey,” Catrambone asserted. “Some of the large collection companies are buying up smaller trash companies and creating a lack of competition. This results in ALL municipalities in New Jersey receiving fewer bids or, in this case, only one bid, and those bids are certainly higher than any one municipality is comfortable with, knowing the financial effect it has on all residents. This is the same thing that happened in Delran. We received only one bid this year.
“That kind of lack of competition for an essential service creates a REAL and serious long-term problem for Delran residents and everyone else in New Jersey. Therefore, I will be sending letters to our state representatives and reaching out personally to see if there is any way to stop this monopolistic behavior and allow for healthy and fair competition in the trash collection bid process.”
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