West Chester to Vote on Trash Wednesday

will vote on whether or not to privatize the borough’s trash service at Wednesday night’s regular council meeting.

“I’ve done a complete 180 on this,” said council member John Manion at Tuesday night’s work session. “We can save $85,000 if we go ahead with this, and we would also lose five employees, which would do a lot to curtail our long-term legacy costs.”

Currently, the borough faces a budget deficit of $500,000 for 2012, and one of the ways council could close that gap is by privatizing trash service.

“Our costs continue to outpace our revenues,” Manion said.  “Any additional revenues we could bring in would still not be enough to satisfy our long-term costs.”

West Chester faces the predicament of being 100 percent developed with costs associated with employee health care and pensions growing at an exponential rate.

“Ernie [McNeely, borough manager] has been telling us for years that what we have is unsustainable,” said council president Holly Brown. “We cannot continue to raise taxes.  We need to get serious.”

Both Brown and Manion made the argument that privatizing trash service would have an immediate savings of $85,000 while also eliminating the borough’s financial obligation to five public works employees.

“I understand this process is painful,” Brown said.  “But it can’t continue.  So, the pain has to start now.  We can’t keep pushing it off.”

However, a few members of council have made it clear that they do not trust the bid in discussion from A.J. Blosenski, Inc. with some going as far to call it a “lowball bid.”

“According to the numbers they’ve provided, they can pick up trash at a rate of $9.74 per stop in Downingtown.  For West Chester they are offering to do it for $7.33 per stop,” said council member Jim Jones.  “If they can’t do it in Downingtown, and not even come close in other places, how can they afford to do it here.”

What Jones is afraid of, along with other council members, is that Blosenski put in a low bid to win the contract.  Then, when the contract expires, the borough would have sold all its trash equipment and without any other options prices would go up.

“I am afraid that this number [the Blosenski bid] is so low that it’s unsustainable,” Jones said.

“I applaud Jim’s point,” Manion said.  “But I don’t see that as a problem.  The real problem is the lifetime liability we have for our employees.  It’s an albatross around our necks.”

At the meeting Jones also made the point that people like the borough’s current trash service.

“What you’re proposing to cut is successful,” Jones said.  “The bigger question people need to start asking themselves is what do you want to pay to live in this town.”

Throughout this process several residents have said that they wouldn’t want the trash service privatized because under the current system they know who to call and what to do if there are problems.

“If you had a problem with your trash, you wouldn’t call Blosenski,” said council member Sue Bayne.  “You would still call public works.  We’re not divesting fully from trash.  We’re still managing and we would still be dedicated.”

Borough Council will vote on the trash issue on Wednesday, November 19 at the regular meeting that starts at 7 p.m.