Borough Council Discusses Trash

West Chester Borough Council effectively approved a measure during Tuesday's meeting that would have the borough look into privatizing trash service.

During last winter's budget season borough council discussed changing the way West Chester dealt with trash in order to save money.

Among the proposals was a plan to have residents pay for garbage bags, while another plan suggested residents to pay for stickers to place on trash cans marking them essentially "borough approved."  Several members of the council also suggested that the borough look into privatizing trash service.

All of those suggestions fell by the wayside when council decided to raise property taxes by 20 percent.

Now, however, they will again begin to look at privatizing trash service.

"We want to get bids for trash collection," said council member Tom Paxson.  "We want to see what it would cost for the same services we have now, and we want to see what it would cost for a one year, three year and a five year contract."

During the meeting last winter, several residents in the audience mentioned that privatizing trash service can lead to problems.  Many said that private trash firms aren't as careful as publicly funded outfits, and that the level of service isn't the same.

"We just want to get some info," Paxson said.  "We want to see what it looks like.

The borough also approved the contract renewal for the company that hauls liquid sludge in West Chester at the rate of 7.6 cents per gallon.