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North Huntingdon OKs new trash hauling contract; boosts rates $25 a quarter | TribLIVE.com
Norwin Star

North Huntingdon OKs new trash hauling contract; boosts rates $25 a quarter

Joe Napsha
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A hike in residential garbage collection rates in North Huntingdon next year that is part of a new deal was almost inevitable, given the “below-market rates” charged by the current hauler, township officials said.

The four-year contract commissioners approved Wednesday with Waste Management Inc. will boost residential rates to $77.25 per quarter. That’s about $25 higher than the existing fees. The new contract contains an option to renew the contract for 2026.

Commissioner Eric Gass, the lone opponent to the Waste Management contract, said he believed the increase was too high for some residents. He said the township should have instituted a “reverse bid” process to pit Waste Management against its lone competitor, Republic Services.

Although County Hauling of Rostraver charges lower rates, township Manager Jeff Silka said that “it really can’t be used for analysis. It’s not within market rates.” County Hauling charges customers $50.85 per quarter this year, with a discounted rate for senior citizens.

Faced with complaints about its service, County Hauling and the township agreed to end its contract at the end of the year — two years before it was to expire.

Waste Management, a national company out of Houston, Texas, will serve the township out of its North Huntingdon facility.

It will charge residents $80.34 per quarter in 2023; $83.55 per quarter in 2024; and $86.88 per quarter in 2025, for an automated collection service using a 96-gallon wheeled cart for trash and a 65-gallon cart for recyclable materials.

The hauler will provide the commercial-grade wheeled carts to the township’s 12,700 residential customers, said Mike Turley, assistant township manager.

Senior citizens who want to use the automated service with a 65-gallon cart would pay $65.67 next year and $73.86 by 2025. Seniors who want to continue to bag their trash can buy a minimum of 24 bags at $2.50 per bag.

Bulk items would be collected once a month under the new deal and yard waste would be taken six weeks a year.

Republic Services would have charged $94.32 per quarter in 2022, also using the an automated collection system. Republic’s fees would have increased to $103.25 per quarter by 2025.

The automated collection process will allow Waste Management to have the driver of the truck operate arms that bend and extend to grab the specially designed carts and dump them into the truck’s storage area. It can pick up carts on either side of the road, eliminating the need to have an extra person on the truck.

Waste Management’s “manual option” — with employees lifting garbage cans and dumping them into the back of the truck — would have cost residents $130 per quarter next year.

Turley said the waste hauling industry is steering communities to the automated collection process, making it the only practical option.

Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.

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