ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown residents temporarily dodged a hike in their trash fees after City Council scrapped a new collection contract Wednesday.
That leaves city officials scrambling to hire a company to pick up more than 40,000 tons of trash created by Allentown residents each year.
Council voted 5-2 Wednesday night to reject a deal that would’ve seen the city pay J.P. Mascaro & Sons $16.3 million across the first year of the contract.
Members Santo Napoli and Daryl Hendricks broke with the rest of their colleagues to support the agreement.
City Recycling and Solid Waste Manager Ann Saurman led a presentation on the two bids Allentown got for its trash-collection contract before council members questioned her and Public Works Director Mark Shahda at length.
Officials said the city should continue with twice-a-week collection, a recommendation at which several council members and some residents balked Wednesday.
Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach noted most Pennsylvania cities collect trash once a week, while Allentown residents’ trash is picked up twice weekly.
“This was the most economical (option) for the city."Finance Director Bina Patel on the rejected contract
She suggested the city could save a significant amount of money by changing its service schedule.
The $16.3 million total cost for the first year of the proposed contract with J.P. Mascaro equated to a little less than $35 per housing unit per month, according to council documents.
Moving to once-weekly trash collection would’ve saved the city 5 cents on that rate, Finance Director Bina Patel told LehighValleyNews.com.
Patel said trash crews would be required to do the same amount of work on either schedule.
Question mark in the budget
The proposed contract was scheduled to start June 1, at the end of Allentown’s nine-year relationship with Waste Management, which collects and disposes of the city’s trash.
The deal with J.P. Mascaro & Sons would’ve cost the city millions more each year than its contract with Waste Management.
And residents’ trash fees were to rise in line with that.
Residents paid $415 for refuse and recycling services this year. That would’ve climbed to $605 next year if council approved the contract Wednesday.
Gerlach called that hike “a bit much” when paired with rising costs for housing, energy, groceries and other necessities.
Rejecting the contract — and the $190 increase planned for residents in 2025 — leaves a large question mark in the city’s solid waste fund.
Without a contract in place ahead of budget season, officials will be guessing at important figures when Mayor Matt Tuerk submits his 2025 proposal next month, Shahda told Councilwoman Candida Affa and others after the meeting.
Council overstepping its authority — again: Patel
The city could issue a new request for bids from trash-collection companies, but it's unlikely to get a new and cheaper bid at the eleventh hour, Patel said.
Only two companies submitted bids for the city’s trash-collection contract the first time.
The contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons would’ve cost the city $10.2 million less than sticking with Waste Management in the contract’s first year alone.
“We don’t really have an option” but to approve that contract.Allentown Finance Director Bina Patel
Curbside yard-waste collection would’ve doubled under the contract rejected by council.
“This was the most economical [option] for the city,” Patel said of the proposed contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons.
“We don’t really have an option” but to approve that contract, she said.
Council has a limited role in the city’s contracting process and is tasked with ensuring administration officials followed the city’s contracting and bidding procedures.
Members overstepped their authority Wednesday by rejecting a properly procured contract, Patel told LehighValleyNews.com.
She said they are there to ratify the contracting process and not the contract itself. She said she was “really disappointed” by council’s rejection of the contract.
It’s the job of the mayor and his administration to put contracts out to bid and select vendors, not council’s, Patel said, alluding to another recent instance of council overstepping its role.
Council in August temporarily put millions of dollars of federal pandemic-relief money at risk by voting to delay a contract for a new police station because some members felt they were left out of the process to pick a location for the facility.
City and police officials delivered in-depth presentations to council about the new station, despite members playing only a small role in the contracting process.
Council Vice President Santo Napoli called council’s vote to table that contract “bonkers.”
