Casella reports service improvements, council hears resolution to increase invoiced units

Council members at the City of Chester’s May 11 deliberative meeting reviewed Resolution R-60, which would amend the city’s contract with waste hauler Casella to increase the number of residential units eligible for invoicing from 9,900 to 10,408 at the existing unit price of $13.93 per unit. Chief Moore introduced the resolution as a technical adjustment reflecting the number of units the city is actually billing for.

Patrick Nealon, Casella’s market area manager for the Delaware market, told council the company had a “rocky start” but has adjusted routes and equipment to improve pickup reliability. “We feel now that we have a pretty good grasp on it,” Nealon said, describing an increase from the originally planned three trash trucks plus one recycle truck to five trucks and the assignment of a dedicated in-town route supervisor to handle incidents and service exceptions.

Nealon provided monthly recycling tonnage figures—January 39 tons, February 25 tons, March 34 tons and April 45 tons—and said Casella collected roughly 100 tons of recycling in its first three months versus about 73 tons during the same period under the prior contractor, a 36% increase. He said the city will submit those figures to the state Department of Environmental Protection to support reimbursement requests.

Council members used the presentation to press Casella on operational details. Nealon said Casella has temporarily been accepting non-containerized material as a grace measure while routes and participation stabilize but emphasized the contract expectation of containerized service (two 64‑gallon containers per household). He described contamination—especially recyclables placed inside plastic bags—as a primary driver of rejected loads at the recycling facility and called for public education to improve the quality of materials at the curb.

Casella also warned that waste‑handling capacity at regional facilities has a direct operational impact: Nealon said Covanta experienced boiler problems and temporary shutdowns that caused long lines and forced some trucks to use alternate transfer points, complicating routing and timing.

On bulk pickup, Casella described types of items they will and will not accept (for example, mattresses and furniture generally accepted; hazardous liquids, large construction demolition material typically not). Council asked Casella to prepare and provide a detailed, written list of acceptable items for distribution to residents.

Resolution R-60 was presented for council consideration; the transcript records the presentation and discussion but does not show a roll-call vote or final action on the resolution during this meeting.