VENTNOR – Every household in the city will receive 95-gallon recycling and trash carts before the summer season 2019, Commissioner Lance Landgraf announced at the Nov. 29 Board of Commissioners meeting.
According to Landgraf, the Atlantic County Utilities Authority received a $53,460 grant to partially fund the cost of purchasing the double-wheeled toters.
“This will eliminate litter coming from trash cans without lids,” city Administrator Maria Mento said.
Commissioner Tim Kriebel said the carts are “one of a constelation of things that make the city greener.”
Landgraf said the city recently learned that the annual fees charged by the ACUA for the city’s trash and recycling collection would remain stable this year.
Although there is a steep cost to purchasing the carts, which cost $45.76 each, having larger recycling containers could benefit the city in the long run, Mento said.
“People tend to recycle more because of the carts, which means less will be going into the trash. When less goes into the trash that means what we pay ACUA in tipping (trash disposal) fees, about $60 a ton, our trash costs will go down,” she said.
“It’s better for the environment and better for the city on a cost basis,” Kriebel said.
City solicitor Tim Maguire added “and it looks better.”
The city will soon be signing a new multi-year contract with the ACUA, and payment for the new toters will be included on a pro-rated basis over the next seven years.
The grant covers $7 so the net cost to the city is $38.76 for each cart. The city needs to supply them to approximately 5,600 households, Mento said.
Anticipating it would receive the grant, the city budgeted $67,600 in this year’s budget and plans to do so for the next six years.
“The ACUA will amortize the cost over seven years,” Mento said. “Delivery would most likely occur in May when more secondary homeowners are here.”
A company hired by the ACUA will deliver the carts and remove old containers if requested, Landgraf said.
Kriebel that said during a session at the League of Municipalities Conference held in Atlantic City last month, he learned that the largest source of visual litter is debris blown from uncovered trash cans.
“I was hesitant to support the purchase of these cans because I didn’t see how we could do it in a financially responsible way that wouldn’t affect us. (But) with the long-term planning across budget years and with the grant…I am totally for it,” he said.
The trash carts will be a burgundy color and the recycling carts will be blue with burgundy lids. The cans come with a microchip that identifies the cart as property of the city.
