Saturday, March 23, 2013
Mayor argued plan would have saved money without laying off any township employees
The Mahwah Township Council voted down a plan Thursday to outsource recycling pick-up. The plan would have switched the job from that of township Department of Public Works employees to that of a private company. Thursday night’s vote marks the second time in the last year that the council has voted recycling privatization down. This time, privatization was presented as part of Mayor Bill Laforet’s 2013 proposed budget. Laforet made a presentation Thursday night on privatizing, which he said would save the township money and would not cost any DPW jobs. According to Laforet’s presentation, recycling pick-up currently costs Mahwah $625,184 a year. A private hauling company bid $178,000 to pick up the township’s recycling. In contract …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The township is considering upping recycling pick-up to once-a-week
Mahwah is in the middle of the 2013 budget season, which means the mayor and town council are in the middle of deciding which services the township will offer residents this year, and which it will not. Part of the mayor’s 2013 budget proposal is privatizing the township’s recycling department. According to Mayor Bill Laforet’s proposal, hiring a private company to pick up the township’s recycling would allow for pick-up to increase from every other week to once-a-week, and save the township money. While an in-depth discussion of the proposal has yet to happen in front of the township council, Councilman Roy Larsen suggested at a meeting last week that a better alternative might be to return garbage pick-up to twice-a-week year round. In …
Monday, January 21, 2013
DPW workers started handing out fliers around town urging people to attend this week's presentation on the 2013 township budget
A debate last year over whether or not the township’s recycling department should be run by the town’s Department of Public Works or by a privatized company might replay itself this Thursday night. The Mahwah mayor and business administrator are expected to give a presentation on their proposed 2013 municipal budget at this Thursday’s township council meeting. The budget, which will dictate the year's municipal tax rate, must meet a state-mandated two-percent tax levy increase. Representatives from the DPW Union who say they will be on hand Thursday night to see if privatization is part of the plan, started handing fliers like the one attached to this article around the township this weekend urging residents to attend the meeting. “We just…
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The township's cut of $13.1M in statewide grants is based on its recycling efforts in 2010
Mahwah is set to receive over $45,000 in grant money from the state thanks to the township’s recycling efforts in past years. The grant is part of $13.1M given out statewide through the Recycling Enhancement Act, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced in a release Monday. According to the release, the grant is funded by a $3 per ton surcharge on trash disposed at solid waste facilities. Local governments receive 60 percent of the money the fund generates to help enhance recycling outreach. The rest goes toward county waste management systems and hazardous waste collections. Mahwah Business Administrator Brian Campion said the grant, which he expects to receive within the next two weeks, can only be used to cover specific expenses. “A …
Monday, July 16, 2012
One councilman thinks so, do you agree?
Last week, during a council meeting discussing the future of recycling in Mahwah, one councilman expressed his opinion that those that don’t comply with mandatory recycling in the township should face a fine. “People in town must recycle,” Councilman Sam Alderisio said. “And there should be a penalty for people who don’t.” The comment got a mixed reaction from the crowd of over 100 residents who attended the meeting to hear the discussion and voice their opinions on recycling in the Mahwah. Some in the crowd booed, while one resident made a public comment in support of the idea. Other residents talked of concerns about the idea, saying that it would be logistically impossible, or too expensive, to enforce. According to the township’s …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Town council considered privatizing the department, which could save money but may cost township jobs
The future of the township’s Recycling Department is up in the air, after a combative town council meeting Thursday night at which Mayor Bill Laforet proposed privatizing the department. Over 130 residents, including a large group of Department of Public Works employees clad in bright yellow shirts and a blow-up union rat, gathered at town hall to hear the council’s opinions on privatization. The Recycling Department, made up of seven public employees, is an arm of the DPW. Laforet proposed eliminating the department and replacing it with a private service that would pick up and transport residents’ recycling. According to Business Administrator Brian Campion, the town council needs to vote on whether or not it wants to privatize the …
Monday, July 9, 2012
Changes may be coming to the way recycling gets picked up in Mahwah, and DPW workers are speaking out against the potential change; Find out what happens this week on Patch
This Thursday, the Mahwah Town Council is slated to consider potential changes to the township’s recycling department. Over the past few months, township administration has put out several bids for private recycling companies to pick up Mahwah’s recycling. It is currently picked up by the township’s Department of Public Works. Last week, DPW workers released a flier urging residents to attend Thursday night’s meeting to find out the details of the new plan. According to the flier, some DPW workers may face layoffs if the new plan is passed by the township council. “No matter how many people would be laid off, it would be too many,” Mahwah resident and DPW spokesperson Marc Bracciodieta said. “The town would be laying off people who grew up…
JP
5:12 am on Friday, April 5, 2013
Yeah, my mind is long gone from listening to people like you whine all the time. more ›