City renews garbage collection contract with Roselle for $3.1 million
By Jayed Rahman
Published: February 16, 2015
Municipal officials renewed the city’s garbage disposal contract with Fairfield-based Suburban Disposal for $3,147,829.
The contract runs from April 1st, 2015 through March 31st, 2016, according to the resolution awarding the contract.
3rd Ward councilman William McKoy said the renewal gives the city time to have a discussion on how to handle garbage collection in the future. He called for a vigorous discussion on the future of garbage collection in the city.
“I clearly believe we need to have this renewal — the time frame for us to initiate our own collection process is too close,” said McKoy.
McKoy cited Elmwood Park, which he said, has been using trucks equipped with snowplows to pick-up garbage and clean the streets.
Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres in media reports said bringing the function in-house would cost the city much more.
“I think there’s an opportunity for Paterson to make some money,” said McKoy. He said the city could enter into shared services agreements with surrounding towns to haul their garbage for a fee. McKoy said that revenue can then be used to wean the city out of transitional aid and provide relief to city taxpayers.
The city originally entered into a three-year contract worth $8,126,743 with the company on March 13th, 2012.
“If all we give out is contract to others we will never develop our city,” said McKoy.