The Coaster

By DON STINE

Ocean Township residents will have to start hauling their garbage to the curb in specially-designed, 95-gallon containers next year to make collection easier and safer for municipal sanitation employees.

The containers allow the truck to directly pick up the garbage without the aid of workers other than the truck driver. Currently employees haul the cans to the garbage truck and empty the contents by hand.

(The change) has been under evaluation for a couple of years and it is the wave of the future. We are moving forward on it, said Mayor William F. Larkin.

Some residents, however, question the new program.

The township is currently only one of a handful of municipalities in Monmouth County that has backyard garbage collection. Others include Allenhurst, Loch Arbour, Interlaken, Spring Lake and Sea Girt.

Larkin said other municipalities use similar curbside garbage collection programs, which also allows for safer and better use of personnel.

A big problem with the sanitation department is workmans compensation claims, he said.

Larkin said the new garbage collection system will cut down on such claims because the work is less labor intensive.

Under the proposal new garbage trucks will be purchased by the township, most likely under a phased-in program over a period of years. The trucks have special arms to lift and dump the specially-designed garbage cans.

The program will most likely be phased in over a period of time, perhaps with certain sections of township participating in the new program first. This is still under review, Larkin said.

The township also plans on purchasing about 9,200 new garbage cans that will then be distributed to households in the township. This cost for the cans will be covered by using almost $400,000 that was collected from state tonnage recycling grants over the years but was never spent.

The 95-gallon cans are about triple the size of a normal garbage can, which can range from about 30 to 40 gallons.

Larkin said exceptions will be made for any handicapped residents who cannot get their container to the curb, and he added that part of the program is also still under review.

The special garbage cans have wheels and are designed for easy rolling that will allow them to be readily wheeled to the curb, he said.

Larkin said bulk garbage collection will remain the same. Township Clerk Deborah Smith said the township expects to go out to bid for new containers on Aug. 30 with the award of bids expected to take place on Sept. 5. Township Director of Finance Steven Gallagher said the new garbage collection program should cut down on workers compensation claims within the sanitation department. Workers are not subjecting themselves to as much personal injury, so it is logical that there will be a reduction in such claims, he said. Gallagher said out of a total of 27 workers compensation claims filed in the township last year, five were within the sanitation department. So far this year there have been 23 workers compensation claims with two in the sanitation department. Township residents said they have mixed feelings about the new proposal. I think they should keep the guys picking up the garbage. I think its more personal to have the men handling the garbage and I think (the new program) is going to be terrible. We already pay enough taxes for backyard pickup and to have employees on the trucks, said Wanamassa resident Richard Kirk. Brenda Skinner, who lives in the Oakhurst section, said her husband takes the garbage to the curb anyway but added that backyard pick-up is nice for people who cant get their garbage to the curb. I would be for the new collection program as long as it results in a cost savings that is significant for the township, she said. Karen Nordensvan, who lives the Wanamassa section, said she is concerned about elderly people like her mother, who also lives in the township, having to deal with these large containers. Her mother has a heart problem. It just seems that (the township) is putting the responsibility on me now. Its now my job to get the garbage out, and it just adds more stress to my life, she said. Nordensvan said she and her husband always put the garbage by the curb anyway but she added that at the end of the day you at least had that option, and it wasnt a concern.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Municipal, Ocean Township. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.