Saturday, March 6, 2010

Trash Talk

Good morning Lower Providence. Good morning East Norriton and good morning Philadelphia.
How about some open debate for a change?
What are the merits of having one trash hauler as opposed to having your choice of several?
Here's what I'm thinking.
I live in West Norriton. We have our pick of about a half dozen trash haulers. For us, that means we can drop anyone we don't like at anytime in an effort to get better service and a better price. You know what else that means? I don't think there's a day that goes by without a trash truck rumbling down my street before the crack of dawn.
Now, Lower Providence just renewed its contract with one trash hauler. If the township supervisors were doing their due diligence, which I have no reason to believe they weren't, and a quick Right To Know request would clear it up in a minute, then residents of Lower Providence are getting the best price, and possibly the best service for their buck. And if they're not happy with either they can re-bid the contract.
East Norriton, you're debating whether to go with a single trash hauler. So for residents I guess the question is whether you trust your elected officials to make the right decision.
Philadelphia is struggling so the mayor wants to start charging $300 a year for trash collection. My only response is that I'm pretty sure they're already being taxed to pay for collection so why is the city trying to double dip into residents pockets?
The lines are now open. Where do you stand?

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obviously there's economy of scale, one hauler might be less money, overall, for the township's homeowners.

However, you surrender choice. You surrender your ability to fire someone who doesn't do the job.

I live in a township that has no single hauler, surrounded by townships that DO have single haulers. Some people opt not to pay for trash collection at all in our township, especially those who own businesses with dumpsters, etc.

For seniors or those on a fixed income, this is a more convenient arrangement. Take their trash offsite.

Once a single hauler comes in, everybody pays.

Lower Gwynedd implemented it about 10 years ago, but offered an "opt out" provision for residents who didn't want to paricipate.

That's the best solution. Bundle up those who want to be bundled and leave everyone else alone. No forced trash collection. It's a tax, plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

Re Bid my tush...

We in L.P. are locked in for five years.

That's like locking in to your oil company, and have the price of oil reduced the following year.

If the residents of East Norriton go to a single hauler they need their heads examined.

Thank God they have a woman on the board that has commmon sense.

The only company that will benefit
will be the one with the elephant on board.

By having more than one hauler, residents can share their containers. A great cost cutting advantage.

Anonymous said...

Mascara makes sure we are covered in all ways - summer, "Oh that garbage" fall, all those leaves and winter they are there no matter how much snow,sleet or wind driven everything, but in the spring - I really appreciate the pickups because It is time to clean out all the closets and one of a kind things you could not do with out. Our neighbor, single person over 70, is very seldom home and the price is right if you contact Mascara. Right now, one company that does a great job should take all.

Anonymous said...

I just love a trash company that sues everyone that happens to disagree with them. No wonder the good people of Lower Providence hired a Special Attorney to look into this "five year" contract. What a bunch of crap.
Anonymous(afraid of a lawsuit)
Audubon, Pa

Anonymous said...

Mascara is something you apply to your eyes.

Could be why your not seeing correctly.

Your Mascara is dripping.

I believe it is spelled Mascaro.

Anonymous said...

Sues 'everyone' that happens to disagree with them? Not so. They sued people who lied about their business in a desperate Hail Mary effort to win an election. I'd sue too if they lied about my business, regardless of the reason.

kdyson said...

Simple. East Norriton has enough problems as it is, we don't need to add management of the Township garbage collector onto the plate of the Township staff.

The likely savings is very small compared to what we already pay. Trash trucks will be on the streets everyday regardless of whether it is one collector or 9, albeit one collector would be more efficient for road use as trucks would be collecting entire neighborhoods compared to 25% of a neighborhood on any given day.

Leave the free market alone. Right now if I don't like my hauler, I can fire them and have a new one the next day. If I get mad at the Township, I have to wait 6 years to fire one or more of the Supervisors for their hauler decisions.

Anonymous said...

Present system works fine.
LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!!!!
Concentrate on the other problems
like generous unfunded pension
plans,etc.

Anonymous said...

Kdyson: Great blog, you nailed it.

Just another move for the elephant to move in.

A five to 6 year contract only bemefits on e party.

Competition is great, it made our country great.

Anonymous said...

Let's get off that they won the election because of the mailer.

Try the L.P blog, that's where the tear jerker page is found.

Whoever won the election did it with more than Hail Mary's, they threw in a couple of Our Fathers.

Get over it, the parties are in office for six years, you will have to learn to live with it.

The Phillies and Eagles can loan you some crying towels.

Get a life!

Anonymous said...

3/7/10 Blogger:
I also take issue with you comments about Mascaro's lawsuit against the Three LP Supervisors and others. There was nothing derogatory or of libelous nature about any campaign literature distributed, and is nothing more than a nusiance suit by the Mascaro firm simply because of sour grapes since they dropped so much campaign money into a local election to have their candidates lose...again. I still have this literature sitting on my desk for anyone that would care to peruse it.
Afraid of a lawsuit
Audubon, Pa

Anonymous said...

The parties are in office for six years if they win the lawsuit against them...

Big Daddy Woo Woo said...

What bothers me on this topic? I live in the Westover club apartments, and there is NO recycling. 100's of people live at Westover, and all of the plastic, glass, and cans end up as landfill. It bothers me, so I personally take my recyclables to a friend's house. But why do regular homes have to recycle, but people in apartments do not? Does that make any sense?

Anonymous said...

The residents of L.P. have spoken.

The election is what it is.

Riots in L.P. I don't think so!

Try your luck in two years.

Anonymous said...

$300 a year for garbage? That's cheap if the costs of collection and disposal have gone up, unless the tax rates were increased along with the expenses. Philly is just getting rid of the BRT, so taxes may need to be adjusted for the poorer areas that are paying more than their share. The financial books should be opened to show where all the taxes are really spent, including any slush funds. I lived in another state where one city charged $100 every three months. Another city charged $60 every three months. But, I got roll-around bins for garbage, green waste, and recycling. They even picked up used oil in those gallon milk cartons in at one place. HazMat and other items were picked up twice a year or you could drop them off for free. So, you get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

East Norriton Township has recycle
bins at the township building.The
bins are always FULL!(especially the newspaper bins with papers
spilling out the sides.
Thre is talk about going to one
trash collector township wide.
If ENT can't handle the recycling
bins,how will they do with township wide collections?

Tom from Trooper said...

Nuff said about the election in LP, the people's choice have taken it by a landside.

I don't care how much money Mascaro put into the election coffers of Dininny and Dougherty, there was no way they could win a popular election. They made too many bad decisions, Dininny on the BOS and Dougherty on the ZHB. Thank goodness the Board started to televise the meetings so the good voters in LP could see the big man's ego in action.

I like the new board meetings much better, seems they are over in a hour without all the grandstanding and hornblowing that was a trademark with the old board. Now, voiceless Marie even has input at the meetings, it is a much better balanced board than before.

As for Mascaro getting a five year contract, this should have never been allowed to happen with a lame duck board. Dininny, Sassu, and Altieri got to stick it to the electorate for voting them out of office. Oh well, read em and weep they say.

Tom Borai, The Audubon Tom said...

Stan, Let's set the record straight before someone get's the wrong Tom.

Tom from Trooper is not the same Tom from Audubon.

I prefer to stay out of all the pissing contest.

Thanks, it's nice to get our electric back on line.

Thanks to Charlie Defrangesco for staying on top of the problem.

Anonymous said...

I like single hauler for the reason you mentioned Stan. Mascaros already collects trash 2X a week and yard waste on another day so three out of seven days, there is a trash truck on my street in the early morning hours. I'd hate to think what it would be like with multiple trash haulers. I have to say that I am happy with the service Mascaro provides and I don't think it would be any better or that much less expensive with someone else doing comparable pick-up. I'm thrilled to finally have single stream recycling. My trash has dwindled a great deal because we can recycle so much now. It's a great thing for the township.
If Philadelphia is already taxing residents for trash pick-up, then they'd better find another way to make money.

Anonymous said...

I think it's cheaper and a 'greener' option to go with one hauler. It's obviously been chosen as the way to go in a large number of area across PA.

Anonymous said...

ENBOS:

Please listen to the residents
for a change!WE DON'T NEED OR WANT
TOWNSHIP WIDE TRASH COLLECTION!
TAKE CARE OF ALL THE OTHER PROBLEMS
ENT HAS!

Anonymous said...

My problem is I don’t need trash pick up 2 times a week. I have legal access to a dumpster and don’t need a trash service, but I still have to pay $300.00 + a year for something I don’t need or want.

Why should an older retired couple on a fixed income pay the same as a family of 5?????

And yes I live in LP and yes I voted against D&D. Thank God SASSU is gone all you heard was when I was a cop, when I was this, when I did this, I run the meetings you have 3 mins, blahh blahh blahh

Anonymous said...

My problem is with backstabbers.

People work for you, get you elected and you repay them by pointing the finger just to save your own butt.

No one will ever trust you again.

You know who you are, and you disgust me.

Anonymous said...

The way to keep from getting stabbed in the back.... Keep your back against the wall. Remember, the only person you can hopefully trust...is yourself. I hope!

Anonymous said...

There have been many comments regarding trash pickups happening many days in a week if a resident picks their own private trash hauler. I drive through a local township next to LP which appears to let their residents choose their own hauler. It looks like all of the different haulers use the same day for collections. Not sure if this is a township requirement? I get this impression due to the fact that on Wednesday of each week trash cans are placed at the end of each driveway and there are many company names on the trash cans. So if some thought is put forth a township can let their residents choose their own trash hauler and not have trash trucks on the streets on any number of days. Living in LP I would like to have the ability to select my own hauler. I guess I can dream

Anonymous said...

The trash hauler issue is Dead!

Thank God Eckman and Altieri had to foresight not to hire the lawyer.

Brown, Dipaolo and Thomas are just wasting your money.

Tom from Trooper said...

To the April fools poster, you must be a buddy of Mascaro's or benefit from his wam, or just one of the wannabees. I for one am glad that Brown, DiPaolo, and Thomas had the guts to hire a lawyer to look into the Mascaro debacle. I support anyone that goes up against a bully, no matter what their disguise. Too bad Altieri and Eckman don't want to hear the truth. The truth could set them free.

Anonymous said...

Tom from Trooper...What is with your hatred towards the Mascaro's? You know jealousy is an ugly thing. Why don't you work hard and try to make something of yourself instead of being jealous of people who do...

Anonymous said...

When did standing up for yourself and defending your reputation become being a 'bully'?? Mascaro got picked on by a couple of desperate candidates and THEY'RE the bullies? Just remember who threw the first punch, Tom. Some people can dish it out but can't take it. That would be anybody who put their name on that mailer.

Anonymous said...

Don Thomas has the oil company we will have to use for the next six years......WAKE UP DONNY!

Anonymous said...

April 21, please explain your statement. It does'nt make sense.

Thank you.

Elmer said...

Don Thomas has to do a little talking on that Dais.

His vacant look reminds me of the kids, who used to sit in the back of the class and eat paste in grade school.

MaggieL said...

I got fed up with Mascaro service, fouled-up billing, broken can replaced with another broken can, employees in my back yard looking for "bandit cans", and hired G&C. Much better, and cheaper, too.

Why on earth would anybody go to a single-source on this?

Anonymous said...

MaggieL, If you live in L.P. you can hire anyone you want, BUT, you will still be billed by Mascaro & Sons,they hold the contract for the next (5) five years. Lots of luck. Not as cheap as you believe.

Anonymous said...

Eating paste in the back of the school room.....................

I guess that's where they got the name ELMERS GLUE.