Red Bank adopts revised trash rules
Borough reducing costs
by ending five-day
commercial pick-up
By gloria stravelli
Staff Writer

Over the protests of many business owners, the Red Bank Borough Council adopted revisions to the borough’s trash ordinance Tuesday.

The changes, which would become effective July 1, would end the borough’s long-standing practice of providing five-day-per-week trash pick-up to many commercial properties.

Under the revised ordinance, the borough would provide commercial properties with the same level of service as it does to residences.

The five-day pick-up service has been cited as a major reason for the borough’s large budget for solid waste collection and recycling.

Bruce E. Loversidge, borough chief financial officer, said a conservative estimate of landfill costs for solid waste collection from commercial properties is about $250,000 per year.

During an extended public comment portion, business owners asked the council not to adopt the changes until they could be heard.

But borough officials pointed out that the municipal budget process made the action necessary and voted unanimously for adoption.

In the public hearing, restaurateur Danny Murphy, owner of Danny’s, Bridge Avenue, sought a continued, larger role for the borough in trash removal for businesses.

"I would rather see us pay a surcharge and continue town pick-up," he said. "If not, we could invite the restaurants to work out a deal and have just one or two carriers."

Michael Aufiero of Front Street Tratoria wanted to at least slow the process of change down. "Could we meet somewhere in the middle?" he asked, suggesting the end of pick-ups be phased in.

David Prown, noting his status as both a resident and business owner in town, told the council, "I’m very frustrated with the trash ordinance for a couple of reasons. You’ve accomplished your intent to show residents that you’re clearly focusing on saving costs. At the same time, you’re not giving the business community time to adjust and make plans. It’s going right for our wallets. This will be a huge expense for me."

He said to ensure the survival of his business he would have to start cutting costs.

"It’s survival of the fittest. I have to start taking steps to make sure Prown’s survives," he said.

Galleria owner Elaine Sourlis said business owners should have been asked for input. She said absorbing the costs of garbage collection could close some businesses.

"Businesses have a bottom line," she said. "What are they to do? Close their doors, and you’ll have more vacant stores and it’s 1990 again."

RiverCenter Chairman Chris Cole asked for discussions between the borough and the downtown alliance. In a letter to the mayor and council, Cole noted that RiverCenter had been shut out of the process. He said, "The reduction would place an undue burden on large commercial properties and multi-use buildings."

Mayor Edward J. McKenna said, "Most towns don’t provide any commercial pick-up at all (to businesses) or provide only minimum pick-up."

Under the revision, commercial properties, which require more frequent collection or use Dumpsters, will be required to contract with a private solid waste collector for that service. Dumpsters at residential complexes will continue to be picked up as required by state law. Collection of recyclables will continue.

Properties with a mix of commercial and residential uses would be treated as nonresidential, or commercial, for purposes of trash collection. Public and tax-exempt properties such as municipal buildings, firehouses, first aid squads and schools will still receive municipal solid waste pick-up, but all other public buildings and tax-exempt properties will be treated as nonresidential and receive the same level of service as commercial properties.

Private trash collectors will have to obtain a permit from the Red Bank Department of Public Utilities to collect solid waste in the borough.

The revised ordinance also places enforcement authority with several municipal departments and establishes penalties for noncompliance.

The council’s Public Works Task Force has been studying the borough’s trash collection procedures with an eye on cutting back on the cost of pick-up of commercial refuse.

A 2000 study of solid waste collection by Red Bank, Fair Haven, Little Silver and Shrewsbury showed the borough’s trash collection budget was triple that of its neighbors, and attributed the major share of that cost to the high volume of commercial pick-ups by the borough.

The higher level of service to some commercial properties has not been reflected in the tax rate, however.

According to Loversidge, the borough’s tax rate is the same for residential and commercial property owners — $2.51.8 per $100 of assessed valuation. Of that, 67.5 cents is used for municipal purposes.

For 2002, he added, the borough has budgeted $1.18 million for three line items connected to trash collection — salaries, operating expenses and landfill costs.

Loversidge said the borough spent $737,000 on landfill tipping fees last year and is budgeting that line item at $600,000 this year, a figure that reflects only six months of savings on commercial trash collection because the ordinance revisions wouldn’t take effect until July 1.

If the ordinance changes are adopted, he said, and landfill costs continue to go up, the savings would be even higher.

"Next year we’ll have a six-month track record of savings, a better idea of operational costs and a real idea of what the savings will be in 2003," he said.

At the borough’s prompting, the business community has been preparing to assume more of the burden for commercial trash collection. A cost-sharing accord proposed by Red Bank RiverCenter was rejected by the borough, and the downtown alliance has been attempting to establish central refuse collection facilities in the business district.

In addition, the borough Planning Board requires new applicants for commercial developments to plan for the storage and private collection of solid waste.