Dear Narberth residents:

The Borough’s current contract with Republic Services, which handles our trash, recycling, and brush pickups, expires at the end of this year. The Borough recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for trash and recycling services and received one qualified bid, while the previous RFP for trash and recycling services resulted in four bidders. The one bid received by J. P. Mascaro & Sons, has resulted in the cost for services being twice as the current contract. The Borough’s current annual solid waste fee of $400 for a single-family house would double under this new contract, with the fees for apartments and commercial properties also doubling.

The Borough does not have the equipment to handle trash collection and we have been unsuccessful in identifying alternative solutions. The significant increase in costs is not unique to Narberth, with many surrounding municipalities experiencing similar, or greater increases over the past couple of years. The Borough was hoping to avoid this situation, but ultimately, trash and recycling needs to be picked up next year, and no other options exist.

A representative from J.P. Mascaro & Sons will be at the Borough Council meeting on Thursday, November 16 to discuss the contract and the reasons for the higher costs.