Vogel Disposal Service will continue to be the garbage and recycling collector for Richland Township — though beginning in 2024, the method of collection will change and rates will increase.
The current contract with Vogel Disposal Service expires at the end of 2023. The new contract with Vogel will be for 2024-2027, with two option years in 2028 and 2029.
“We bid two types of service, a base bid for traditional, manual unlimited solid waste service and an alternate bid for semi- or fully automatic solid waste recycling services,” township manager Dean Bastianini said at the July 19 board of supervisors meeting.
The consideration of solid waste and recycling bids was on the agenda at the June 21 meeting but was tabled so the board could get more information and hear more feedback from the community.
Under the new contract, residents will be given a 96-gallon garbage cart in addition to their recycling cart and for the monthly price, Vogel will take anything that fits into that cart. Recycling will still be collected every other week to reduce costs.
On top of the base service, there are special service options, one of which allows seniors to sign up for 35-gallon carts for $25 per month.
“Our bid was modeled a bit after the Council of Governments bid, which included biweekly collection, curbside household hazard waste collections, yard waste, leaf collections four times a year, and a bulk item collection under the automated option,” Bastianini said.
Additional 96-gallon carts for larger households can be rented for $8 monthly.
The township received bids from Waste Management and Vogel Disposal Services. Vogel was the low bidder for the manual collection and the semi-automated option. Under the unlimited option, Waste Management’s proposal for 2024 was $43.44 a month, and Vogel’s proposal was $38.50.
The price increase with the unlimited service is a 42% increase, due to labor shortages. The limited automated service would only have an increase of 10.7%. The auto-limited plan would save Richland residents $1,443,805 on aggregate across the entire township over the next four years.
Upcoming Local Events
“In terms of pure dollars and cents, the automated service is the lowest. You don’t have the flexibility that you have with the unlimited program currently, so one option is more flexible and one is less expensive,” Bastianini said.
Douglas Vogel attended the meeting to answer questions regarding the proposals.
Supervisor Donna Snyder asked how many households in the township currently use the automated collection service. Vogel responded approximately 2,000 out of about 4,000.
“I think when Dean wrote the bid, he considered pretty much all of the desires of the board and the residents. I personally think it’s the best plan for our township residents,” chairman Ray Kendrick said.
Vogel explained plans to roll out the new program.
“Come fall, we’ll send a mailer out to everybody that doesn’t have a cart and let them know that through the months of November and December we’ll start to deliver the carts. At that point, they can start to use them, no problem, but the rate change won’t happen until the first of the new year. All carts have serial numbers and we attach the serial number to the house. If there’s a problem with the cart at some point, a broken wheel or lid, residents can call and we’ll either fix it or replace it,” Vogel said.
Maria Sosso is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.