RED BANK: SWITCH ADDS COLLECTION DAYS

With the switch to private cartage last week, all homes in Red Bank have now had at least one pickup by DeLisa Demolition of Tinton Falls, which won a three-year, $1.49 million contract for collection of trash, recyclables and household bulk waste last month.

The change, borough officials said in advance, would have been all but unnoticed by residents. But there’s a perk or two, including — as some perplexed residents may have noticed on Labor Day — holiday pickups.

September 8, 2015 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRASH PICKUP TO GO PRIVATE

Two of the borough’s four garbage trucks will be sold, and the other two kept for leaf and snow removal, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank is getting out of the garbage business.

By a 4-0 vote at a special, single-issue meeting Monday night, the borough council approved a three-year, $1.49 million contract for collection of trash, recyclables and household bulk waste with a private hauler, Delisa Demolition of Tinton Falls.

But the change, effective September 1, will be all but unnoticeable to residents and small-business owners, town officials said. And it should generate “significant” savings, they contend.

August 18, 2015 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP NEARS

No borough employees will lose jobs or benefits in the switch, Mayor Pasquale Menna said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The end of public-sector trash collection in Red Bank could come as soon as September 1, under the terms of a contract that the borough council body discussed in private Wednesday night.

Still not quite at the end of a process it began 18 months ago, the council scheduled a special meeting for next Monday night solely to vote on the deal.

August 13, 2015 - 10:24 am | Comments ()

RUMSON: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP PLANNED

A municipal trash crew at work on Forrest Avenue last week. Below, Mayor John Ekdahl says the timing is good for privatization. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Four years after a proposal to privatize Rumson’s trash pickup got trashed by residents, the borough is trying again. And this time around, Mayor John Ekdahl is getting no flak, he says.

The main reason, he said, is that the latest plan, unveiled at the borough government reorganization on January 1, won’t have any adverse impact on jobs.

January 28, 2015 - 3:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: PARKING REPORT UNDER WRAPS

Town officials have yet to disclose the recommendations of a consultant on what to do with the White Street lot. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A document that could lay the conceptual groundwork for a new parking garage in downtown Red Bank remains under wraps.

Delivered last month, the roughly 100-page report, by the civil engineering firm CME Associates, offers recommendations on how the town should leverage an asset: its 2.3-acre White Street municipal lot, according to Mayor Pasquale Menna.

January 15, 2015 - 7:42 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP ON HOLD

The Menna administration will rewrite bid specs and try again, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council voted Wednesday night to reject bids submitted by waste haulers aiming to take over garbage pickup for the town’s residents.

Citing inadequate savings, officials said they would rewrite bid specifications for the privatization of trash collection to include a provision that a successful bidder hire the town’s affected solid-waste employees.

The delay sparked sparked an extended and sometimes heated exchange among Republican council candidate Sean Di Somma, borough Administrator Stanley Sickels and two councilmen over what Di Somma called “foot-dragging” on an issue he believes could save taxpayers money.

October 9, 2014 - 12:16 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP WEIGHED

The impact of a switch on jobs will be considered, borough officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Bids are in, and Red Bank officials will now turn their attention to the question of whether it makes financial sense for the borough to get out of the garbage pickup business, Councilman Mike DuPont said Wednesday night.

Officials said five cartage companies submitted bids late last month in a process authorized by the council last February. The governing body’s finance committee, which DuPont heads, will now evaluate the bids “to see if we can get savings” from a switch to private cartage, he said.

September 11, 2014 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRASH PICKUP MAY GO PRIVATE

Trash pickups by borough employees could end this year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank residents could see the end of local government trash pickups this year.

In a move that contemplates a switch to private cartage, the borough council authorized a solicitation of bids for garbage and recyclables collection and disposal at its bimonthly meeting Wednesday night.

The vote on the measure was 5 to 1, with Councilwoman Juanita Lewis dissenting.

February 14, 2014 - 7:56 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PARKING GARAGE BACK ON AGENDA

The borough plans to hire a consultant to advise it on how to get a garage built, most likely on the site of the White Street municipal lot, says Mayor Menna. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The odds that a new parking garage might be built in downtown Red Bank rose Wednesday night.

The borough council is expected to have specifications ready for approval in two weeks for the hiring of a parking consultant, Mayor Pasquale Menna said in limited comments on the topic during the bimonthly council meeting.

February 13, 2014 - 10:57 am | Comments ()

SECOND ‘MOUNTAIN’ PILES UP MEMORIES

A passerby eyes debris in the Anchorage Beach parking lot, above, while a mountain of it dominates the former Peninsula House lot, below. (Photo by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)

By WIL FULTON

Mount Sandy, meet Mount Refuse.

Though smaller in stature, the mountain of debris occupying in Sea Bright’s old Peninsula House parking lot on Ocean Avenue is just as scene-stealing and ominous as its sand counterpart, located just a stones throw away. This ever-growing pile, however, wont have onlookers climbing it or posing for closeups anytime soon.

The refuse is the accumulated result of curbside trash pickups in this Hurricane Sandy-smashed town, where residents and business owners are early on in a restoration effort.

It stands, however briefly, as a jarring, visceral reminder of the storm’s reach over porches, through doors and windows, and into rooms and closets.

December 10, 2012 - 7:59 am | Comments ()

IN THE CAN: FAIR HAVEN GOES PRIVATE TODAY

Monday was the first day that Fair Haven’s new trash collection contractor, M&S Waste Services, made the rounds picking up garbage. Privatization is expected to save the borough about $100,000 this year and $200,000 in the next two years, borough officials say. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

May 2, 2011 - 10:17 am | Comments ()

BONUS FOR CHIEF, TRASH JOBBED OUT

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Fair Haven Police Chief Darryl Breckenridge got his annual attaboy from the borough council last night in the form of a $3,000 bonus.

This is not unusual in Fair Haven. Employees do well, they get compensated, Mayor Mike Halfacre said.

And even though Breckenridge is part of the police department, he is not a member of a union, making him eligible for a performance-based bonus, like all other non-union workers, Halfacre said.

March 15, 2011 - 1:37 pm | Comments ()

MURPHY: PUT IT IN YOUR OWN CAN

Council President Art Murphy says the borough will crack down on residents and business owners dumping their trash in municipal containers. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

The snow is just about melted away, and while that erases a lingering reminder of the pain from this winter, another icky problem is revealing itself in Red Bank.

Trash. Lots of it.

And Red Bank isn’t going to let it stick around, nor will it take a lenient approach to the people putting it out there, officials indicated Monday night.

Council President Art Murphy sent out a warning to businesses and residents, who he said have taken liberty with the borough’s trash containers on the sidewalks downtown, leading to overflowing cans and streets littered with waste.

“We had a tough winter, the snow is melting and there’s a lot of trash out there,” he said. “We do have a problem with tenants above a commercial property using our cans. I’ve seen some of the people from the businesses go out and throw their little white bag in the garbage.”

March 1, 2011 - 1:08 pm | Comments ()

RUMSON OUTSOURCING SCRAPPED FOR NOW

Trash collection will remain a borough operation in 2011. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Rumson officials have canned the idea of outsourcing trash collection in 2011.

That doesn’t necessarily mean jobs are safe in future years, though.

November 30, 2010 - 1:42 pm | Comments ()

LOOKING FOR SAVINGS IN GARBAGE

Fair Haven and Rumson are looking into privatizing its garbage pickup. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Fair Haven and Rumson are looking at ways to save money, starting with the trash.

And in one town, the savings would cost jobs.

October 13, 2010 - 1:25 pm | Comments ()

TIME TO PUT THE CHAMPAGNE ON ICE?

Red Bank officials say they’re now about a month away from tearing down the West Sunset Avenue incinerator stack that has stood as a reminder of the town’s garbage-burning past for several decades.

The town council last night approved a $195,342 contract under which a demolition firm, Nacirema Environmental Services, will remove the stack and the incinerator building at its base.

The Bayonne company won the contact after a sealed-bid process, officials said.

Passage of a resolution approving the deal was cause for cheer among members of the governing body at their bimonthly meeting.

“I’m supposed to bring the champagne” to the demolition, said Mayor Pasquale Menna.

August 25, 2009 - 10:11 am | Comments ()

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RED BANK: SWITCH ADDS COLLECTION DAYS

RED BANK: TRASH PICKUP TO GO PRIVATE

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP NEARS

RUMSON: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP PLANNED

RED BANK: PARKING REPORT UNDER WRAPS

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP ON HOLD

RED BANK: PRIVATE TRASH PICKUP WEIGHED

RED BANK: TRASH PICKUP MAY GO PRIVATE

RED BANK: PARKING GARAGE BACK ON AGENDA

SECOND ‘MOUNTAIN’ PILES UP MEMORIES

IN THE CAN: FAIR HAVEN GOES PRIVATE TODAY

BONUS FOR CHIEF, TRASH JOBBED OUT

MURPHY: PUT IT IN YOUR OWN CAN

RUMSON OUTSOURCING SCRAPPED FOR NOW

LOOKING FOR SAVINGS IN GARBAGE

TIME TO PUT THE CHAMPAGNE ON ICE?