Politics & Government

Borough Council Discusses Privatizing Trash

The borough received bids on trash service.

The West Chester Borough Council Public Works Committee discussed bids received from trash collectors as the borough looks into privatizing trash for the next budget.

"This is something that came up last year when we put together the budget.  Several people said, 'you better look into this,'" said council member Tom Paxson.

The low bid for trash service came from A.J. Blonsenski, Inc. out of Elverson near Morgantown.

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According to council their bid was in the neighborhood of $350,000.

Both Paxson and council member Susan Bayne said that they didn't think the numbers provided by the bid were too far off from what the borough currently pays for its own trash service.

Find out what's happening in West Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I think when we started looking into this, we just wanted to see that we had a competitive price, and I think the bidding process proves that," Bayne said.

According to Bayne, the bid from A.J. Blonsenski, Inc. was cheper than what the borough paid for trash service in 2010, however; the borough costs were still cheaper than the four other bids the borough received.

"One of the questions we need to ask is how much less does a bid have to be before it makes sense," Paxson said.

Paxson added that he did not think that the borough would save enough money to make the switch viable.

"The real fear is that you'll sign a three year contract and then the fees will increase because you've got rid of all your equipment," Paxson.  "We wouldn't want to have to start all over again.  Not in this economy."

 


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