Norristown council awards residential trash contract to JP Mascaro amid resident complaints

Norristown council voted March 17 to recommend the borough award its residential solid-waste and recycling contract to JP Mascaro and Sons, choosing a once-per-week trash collection schedule while keeping the twice-week option available for later consideration.

The decision followed a lengthy presentation by municipal procurement staff and more than an hour of questions from residents and council members. Seon Chen, who presented the RFP findings, said the borough's online solicitation was distributed through PenBid; 26 entities downloaded the documents but only JP Mascaro submitted a final responsive proposal, which the scoring committee averaged at 84.25 out of 100. Chen said staff included a shared complaint mailbox, a 48-hour turnaround standard for cart repair or replacement and contractual penalties for missed pickups to increase vendor accountability.

Multiple residents testified they had experienced recurring service problems under the existing contract, including missed collections, long waits for replacement carts and broken or stolen cart wheels. Michael Petriga said the contractor's inconsistency had imposed costs and inconvenience on households. "There's weeks at a time where nobody came to pick up my trash," Petriga said, urging council to weigh reliability in the award.

Representatives of JP Mascaro and Sons, including JP Mascara III, defended the company's record and capacity. Mascara said the firm holds regular twice-monthly meetings with borough public-works staff and that complaint counts were low compared with volumes: "Last month we did 30,000 collections in the borough and there were 25 complaints," he said, offering his cell phone to residents who needed direct help.

Council members voiced concern about vendor performance and the scarcity of bids. Several asked for provisions allowing the borough to revisit service levels, require quarterly vendor appearances and add mechanisms to replace or penalize the vendor if service standards were not met. Chen said the 2026 budget year is already set but that contract terms can include notification and 30-day switch provisions negotiated before final execution.

After debate, the council moved to recommend the award with Option 1 (once-weekly trash and recycling collection) and directed staff to build in accountability measures and communication processes that let council members and residents monitor performance. The council also accepted a written offer from Mascaro to keep the twice-week option available during the remainder of the calendar year if the borough wishes to switch.

The contract terms presented included projected household costs in later years: staff said a once-week service could represent roughly $47.79 per household per month by 2030 versus $55.88 for twice-weekly service, a difference of about $8.09 monthly. Council members said they expect regular reporting and resident access to the complaint mailbox to ensure problems are tracked and acted on.

The award recommendation passed in open session; the motion included direction for staff to contact other regional haulers to learn why they did not bid and to return with follow-up options and oversight language before the final contract is signed.