Council weighs bringing residential trash collection in-house after planner says borough could save roughly $150K–$175K

Council heard a detailed presentation on whether the borough should take residential trash and recycling collection in-house rather than continue the current contract.

Financial planner Mike summarized his modeling: acquiring three collection vehicles and bodies, hiring four employees, and accounting for maintenance, fuel and fringe benefits could make the borough about $150,000–$175,000 better off annually compared with continuing the contractor arrangement once capital financing is considered. "When you take a look, when you take that $730,000 and compare it to the cost of vehicles, maintenance, fuel, labor…it's a slightly better proposition, maybe $30,000 to the good — and with capital financing the net benefit can rise to roughly $175,000," Mike said during his presentation.

Operations staff (Kenny Sneads) and council members discussed service quality tradeoffs, cans being damaged under the contractor, and the staffing and equipment needs to run a municipal collection program. Staff said tipping fees and county transfer charges would not change, but having town crews on the road gives the borough more oversight and quicker correction of missed pickups. Council asked for a written breakdown of the assumed revenues, warranty language for trucks, insurance impacts and the proposed staffing plan before a final decision.

The administration said a target window would be to order trucks by July to allow delivery and operator training well ahead of the contract expiration in October 2028.