Vernon officials spar over proposed trash drop-off program

Things got a bit heated at last week’s township council meeting when Vernon Mayor Anthony Rossi expressed his displeasure that the proposed trash drop-off program was not on the agenda.

If implemented, residents would be able to opt-in to a trash drop off program that would charge them approximately $350 annually to take up to seven household-size garbage bags per week to the town recycling facility. Presently, residents hire private haulers to pick up their trash or they drop it off at the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority.

“At the last council meeting we talked about the garbage initiative and it was somewhat agreed that it would be discussed again at the next meeting,” Rossi said at the Nov. 24 meeting. “I got the agenda and it’s not on...I called the council president, and he said it is because the numbers don’t match up. I asked him which numbers don’t match up and he said he doesn’t have to tell me.”

Council President Patrick Rizzuto responded.

“We were given information [about the proposed trash drop-off program at the Nov. 10 meeting] that was supposed to have come from the mayor,” Rizzuto said. “I went home and looked at it, did some of the work and there seemed to be a lot of errors. I don’t think it was my responsibility to show anybody the correct resolution to those problems.”

Rizzuto added that a decision on a project the size of the proposed trash drop-off program should wait until the newly constituted council takes over in January and said after the meeting that the process to pass an ordinance implementing such a program would take over a month.

Also, after the meeting, Rizzuto said one of his concerns with the mayor’s plan is providing for any additional use of town personnel at the recycling center during trash drop off. Rossi said the numbers he provided the council included input from the town’s director of public works.

The next township council meeting is scheduled for Monday.

A survey posted on the town website in the fall asked residents if they would be open to participating in such a program. According to Rossi, there were 310 positive responses and 110 negative responses. He estimated most of the no votes came from Barry Lakes residents, who have trash pick-up as part of their Homeowners Association.

“This is an individual service where residents sign up, pay for it and take a punch card each time they drop off their garbage,” Rossi said. “Most residents are paying between $180 and $200 a quarter for private haulers or they spend a lot of time going back and forth to [Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority]. Ultimately, I think it will be a revenue generator for the town.”

The mayor told the township council on Nov. 10 that initial estimates show that about 217 residents would need to sign up for the program to pay for itself, and that no new hires would be needed.

“I have told the mayor we can’t consider this one and done,” Rizzuto said at the Nov. 10 council meeting. “I think it has to be examined over a period of time and if we find that it’s a losing proposition then we raise prices or do something else.”