Garbage vote critics seek referendum

December 7, 2007

In Sparta, 20-day deadlineset to rally enough support

By STEPHEN J. NOVAK

SPARTA — for more than three hours on Saturday, about 100 Sparta residents criticized the need for a municipal trash pickup service and urged the Township Council to reject an ordinance establishing one.

The service was approved in a 3-2 vote. But now residents are passing around a petition to try to overturn the council's decision, and they have less than 20 days to get all the necessary signatures. A successful petition will bring the ordinance to referendum, but township officials say that such a result will not end the service but instead will force residents to pay for it through property taxes.

The originator of the petition, Sparta resident Jesse Wolosky, began collecting signatures at the Saturday meeting in anticipation of the council's decision.

Wolosky could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon, but he publicly stated his criticism of the garbage proposal at special council meetings on Dec. 1 and Saturday. On both nights, the tax lien investor said residents in support "probably don't know all the information they should," and said that an unpaid utility bill could open up the delinquent payer's property to tax liens.

The service, as offered by Succasunna-based Blue Diamond Disposal, will be provided to about 6,500 homes as a utility for a flat rate of about $230 annually.

The fee is about $170 less than the rates paid by subscribers to private hauler services, a practice for a majority of the 19,000-resident township. But the mandatory service could present a significant cost increase to some residents who take their trash themselves to the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority dump in Lafayette, which recently increased its solid waste rates from $8 to $10 per load.

"Folks have a right to do whatever they have to do," said Mayor Michael Spekhardt, who voted in favor of the service with Deputy Mayor Brian Brady and Councilman Manny Goldberg. "If a couple hundred people are looking to overturn something — something that I think is in the benefit of the whole town — that's their right."

To be successful, the petition must gain the support of at least 15 percent of the Sparta residents who voted in the general election in November, making the minimum number 578, according to Township Clerk Miriam Tower.

The petition has to be filed within 20 days of the ordinance's publication date, and the countdown began on Wednesday. Tower has another 20 days after the petition is submitted to validate it, and petitioners then will have 10 days to correct any problems.

Township Manager Henry Underhill said he could not speculate about the success or failure of the petition, but he said the township has to be prepared to respond in either case.

"Any ordinance can be challenged by petition," he said. "If the petition is successful, the issue goes to referendum."

If a special referendum election is necessary, it will cost the township $15,000 to run one.

The logistical effects of a successful petition are still not clear, several township officials said.

The petition currently going around challenges the ordinance, but not the township's $4.5 million contract with Blue Diamond, which could begin its service as early as Jan. 2. The contract is not contingent on the ordinance, said Township Attorney Thomas Ryan.

Even if the ordinance has to go to referendum, the service will remain.

If the voters decide to uphold the ordinance as is, the utility and its flat fee will be maintained. But if it is knocked down, the township will have to fund the service through other means.

One alternative method discussed by the council — and loudly decried by residents — was for the service fee to come out of the township's general treasury, essentially funding the program through property taxes.