Chief administrator says contractor staffing, equipment failures caused widespread missed trash pickups; credit program under development

Chief Administrator Mike told the council that Republic, the town's sanitation contractor, has missed portions of the Monday and Tuesday residential routes for several weeks because of staffing shortages, vacations and equipment failures. "They have approximately 2 to 3 hours of the Tuesday route remaining unfinished," Mike said, and he reported Republic told staff it had "nearly all of Monday's route back on track."

Mike said staff has reviewed the contract language and noted a missed-pickup penalty and an ability for the municipality to hire collection and bill the contractor. "The cost, for the contractor shall be $250 per day, each day, the separate offense," he said, noting staff will not immediately impose aggressive remedies but will pursue follow-up and enforcement if problems persist. He added that Republic indicated it is developing a credit program for affected customers and that he has a call scheduled with the company for the following day to get details on service recovery and customer credits.

Resident John Chuptera, who said he lives on Holiday Park Drive, urged the municipality to require Republic to remit any penalties to the borough so residents receive credits. "If that's it, then they should be giving the municipality the money that they owe, which then should be credited back to it," Chuptera said, describing neighborhood trash accumulation and saying he had photos documenting missed pickups.

Council members asked whether the disruption reflected systemic problems across vendors or was unique to Republic; Mike said he had not confirmed issues with other haulers and that Republic cited the seasonal mix of vacations, staffing gaps and equipment failures. Staff said they were preparing to more tightly monitor compliance in the next contract cycle and to communicate credits and recovery steps to residents once Republic finalizes its program.