By JIM LOCKWOOD
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Even if a petition drive now under way against the town wide pickup plan is successful, it can affect only how the hauler is paid.
A petition drive that has started against a controversial new town wide garbage collection system in
The three-year contract awarded to Blue Diamond Disposal of Mount Arlington can't be nullified by the petition, township attorney Thomas Ryan said. The petition would affect only how the hauler would be paid, Ryan said.
The two planks of the plan approved by the township council in a pair of 3-2 votes included an ordinance creating the garbage utility to charge households about $230 each for curbside collection, and the awarding of a three-year, $3 million contract to a hauler.
"You're not getting rid of that contract," Ryan said. "The contract is not contingent on the ordinance. The utility was just a mechanism to create a budget funded by separate charges to homeowners to pay the hauler."
Under
Opponents said they would continue with the petition drive because they don't believe everyone should be required to be part of the new system. They said there should be an opt-out choice, but the plan does not have one.
Despite warnings from the town that their petition would not kill the new trash plan, they intend to continue.
"I believe that's scare tactics and propaganda," said petition organizer Jesse Wolosky.
Another petition committee member, Jim Behan, added, "This even makes it more bizarre and more suspect, that they would engage in a contract without an escape clause, especially because Sparta government is under the Faulkner Act that allows citizenry to overturn an ordinance by the council within 20 days."
Mayor Michael Spekhardt said that if the petition succeeds, the township has two options: It could hold a referendum to restore the garbage utility or rescind the ordinance.
But even if the ordinance were repealed, the contract would not be affected. Only the payment system would change. Instead of households paying a flat fee, the hauler's payment would have to come out of the municipal budget, he said.
"That's what we were trying to avoid. If we don't create a utility, it will have to come out of taxes," Spekhardt said. "We felt the creation of a utility made it equitable for all households. I don't think the petition organizers realize the contract is not going away and they can take a very equitable situation and make it not very equitable."
Holding a special referendum would also cost the town about $15,000.
Under the current trash system, most of 6,500 households pay about $350 to have trash picked up by private haulers. But an estimated 300 to 500 residents bring their garbage to the county landfill in
The town wide plan calls for a utility to bill all households the same amount each year for a twice-weekly trash pickup and a monthly bulk collection. This would save each home using a hauler about $120 a year and provide more pickups, but would cost landfill users about $130 more a year.
Spekhardt also noted that landfill disposal rates rose on Dec. 1, making it a bit more expensive for folks who want to continue taking their own trash there. Overall, the town wide system would save residents $1 million a year for three years, he said. Having a utility also would better position the town to have more control in the long term, he said.
"Saving $1 million a year each year is nothing to sneeze at," Spekhardt said. "So, $3 million is going back into the pockets of the people of
