Thursday, July 29, 2010
BY BRIAN ANDERSON

SOUTH BERGENITE

STAFF WRITER

The trash transfer station in North Arlington could be open by mid-August and the Borough of North Arlington might not be the only municipality that benefits from the opening.

A previously discussed discount by the company now operating the baler to the 10 Meadowlands municipalities of Bergen County could lower the cost to dump household garbage by as much as $20 per ton, which could result in significant savings for towns in South Bergen.

Three of the five municipalities in South Bergen use municipal DPW workers to pick up household trash—Carlstadt, East Rutherford and Rutherford. The other two—Lyndhurst and North Arlington—use the same private vendor, Cali Carting.

Under the agreement between the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) and Environmental Logistic Services (ELS), the company now in charge of the facility, North Arlington would be able to dump their garbage for free. Additionally, the borough would receive $2 for every ton processed at the facility.

In June, council members from North Arlington voted to change their dumping location, from a site in Newark to a disposal site in Bridgewater that is run by ELS. The decision was formally adopted at the July 22 Mayor and Council meeting.

As a result, North Arlington now enjoys free garbage dumping in Bridgewater. Before the change, North Arlington paid approximately $74 per ton to dump in Newark. Last year, the borough spent $750,000 on tipping fees.

Under the agreement, the borough pays Cali Carting an additional $7,400 per week for transport to Bridgewater. Even with the additional money being paid to Cali Carting, the borough sees a net savings, as each month the borough spent at least $50,000 to dump in Newark.

Darren Rizzo, chief executive officer of Environmental Logistics, has previously said the company may provide a discount on tipping fees for the 10 Bergen towns in the NJMC district. An official within the NJMC said the discount may mean trash disposal for approximately $60 per ton of garbage. What exactly the discount would be, would be known only through the bid process. Multiple phone calls placed for Rizzo and other representatives from ELS to discuss the previously-mentioned discount were not returned.

Carlstadt Councilman Joe Crifasi, the finance chairman of the council, said Carlstadt pays approximately $75 per ton of garbage collected to dump at a transfer station in Garfield, as well as a $3 per ton tax for dumping at a transfer station. Last year, the borough spent almost $202,000 in tipping fees.

Crifasi said the borough collects approximately 200 to 220 tons of municipal garbage per month. Carlstadt uses its DPW to collect municipal garbage.

Carlstadt Mayor Will Roseman said the borough will investigate dumping trash at the baler in North Arlington and will use the facility if the final price is right.

Chris Seidler, the superintendent of the Rutherford DPW, said the borough collects approximately 600 tons of household garbage each month, and pays approximately $81 per ton to dump at a facility in Fairview.

Rutherford Mayor John Hipp said borough officials and officials from the NJMC have met to work on an inter-local agreement, which would allow Rutherford to dump at the baler in North Arlington. However, the plan is not completed and is still being discussed by the borough and the NJMC.

“At some point, it is obviously our intention to dump there,” Hipp said.

At the borough level, Hipp said he is looking into privatizing garbage collection, but other members of the council have not indicated they want to move in that direction.

Lyndhurst Mayor Richard DiLascio said the town pays $59.50 per ton for garbage tipping, which includes the $3 tax. DiLascio said approximately 800 tons of household trash is removed from town each month and dumped in a transfer station in Newark.

Last year, the town paid approximately $771,000 in tipping fees.

DiLascio said the town’s contract with Cali Carting allows officials from Lyndhurst to determine where to dump garbage anywhere within a 20-mile radius of the town. This would allow Lyndhurst to dump at the transfer station in North Arlington, if town officials determined it was more cost-effective to dump there.

“If the number turns out to be better, we can bump over to North Arlington,” DiLascio said.

Alan DeRosa, the superintendent of the East Rutherford DPW, said the borough has collected approximately 310 tons of recycling per month this year, from January to June. DeRosa said the DPW has collected less garbage thus far this year compared to last year, and cited increases in single-stream recycling and residents disposing of less garbage.

According to DeRosa, the borough pays approximately $80, which includes the $3 tax per ton to dump household garbage at a transfer station in Fairview. He said the price is dropping to $70 per ton by approximately the end of August because a rate change, due to less garbage being collected this year.

In 2009, the borough spent almost $400,000 for disposal of its garbage, according to budget figures.

The contract between the borough and Bergen County, which allows the borough to dump its trash at a transfer station in Fairview, is set to expire late this year, DeRosa said. He said East Rutherford is exploring the possibility of using the North Arlington transfer station for its garbage dumping.

“If theirs is a lot cheaper, we’ll go over there,” DeRosa said. “If we can save $20 per ton, it’ll be a lot better.”

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LEADER NEWSPAPER:

Mayor Peter Massa’s recent letter touting the budgeting of the Democrats and blaming a tax hike on Republicans is just a terrific example of a seasoned politician reinventing history.

If we are to follow Massa’s recreating history it was the British who won the Revolutionary War and America is still a colony.

All that Massa’s letter proves is that indeed truth is the first casualty of both war and politics. The inconvenient truth is that the all-Democratic mayor and council raised taxes 33 percent three years ago. In the two following years, the Democratic council majority raided the borough surplus and increased borrowing to give us phony election-year budgets … but not even that could stop the Democrats from losing two seats on the borough council last November.

The new Republican council majority, which took control just seven months ago, is no more responsible for this year’s budget troubles than Gov. Chris Christie is for eight years of the Trenton Democrats spending spree. The Republican majority inherited a budget with a built-in 50-point tax increase (thanks to the Democrats) and introduced an honest budget, free of gimmicks that will come back to bite us next year.

Finally, it is quite evident from the mayor’s letter that he is taking no responsibility whatsoever for leading the community. Massa gladly takes credit for the phony budgets his Democratic colleagues approved and now is running for the exit when the financial land mines he helped plant are starting to explode. That is not a sign of real leadership. That is a sign of irresponsible non-leadership. Massa may not have a vote on the budget, but as the highest elected leader of the community, he has a moral obligation to help structure the municipal budget — not run away and hide from it.

To date, Massa has offered no recommendations to the budget committee. He has offered not a single cost-cutting suggestion. Instead, he chooses to wash his hands of the budgeting process and go off on vacation.

In these tough economic times, we need leaders who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard at finding inventive solutions to the financial problems facing, not just North Arlington, but the entire state. It is obvious that Massa is not one of those leaders.

Gary Burns / North Arlington

ARTICLE IN THE LEADER NEWSPAPER

By Jennifer Vazquez / Reporter

NORTH ARLINGTON (July 15, 2010) —Keeping the Passaic River free of trash will be a little easier now that a new cleanup station is open in North Arlington. The North Arlington Skimmer Vessel Operations and Maintenance Facility will save workers time as they gather debris from the notoriously untidy waterway.

The facility includes a boat ramp, a floating dock and areas to offload debris that has been removed from the Passaic River. Unused boats can be stored there, too.

The operations center is part of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission’s ongoing effort to keep the Passaic clean.

The PVSC’s River Restoration Program, established in 1998, includes work crews to perform riverbank cleanup as well as two skimmer vessels that keep a close eye on the waters of the Passaic and Newark Bay on a daily basis, picking-up and removing trash and other garbage floating on the water.

The new facility is crucial in allowing crewmembers to clean up an extended area of the river without losing time navigating the vessels from Newark to the surrounding North Arlington area, according to PVSC Chairman Anthony Luna.

“This stretch of river is an ideal spot for the new location,“ Luna said. “Ideal because we can operate a full day without losing the many hours to (travel) upstream from Newark to here.”

Keeping the river clean allows for more recreation opportunities along the waterway, Luna said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the North Arlington facility on River Road Wednesday, July 7.

Luna, along with Rep.Bill Pascrell, PVSC Executive Director Wayne Forrest and other dignitaries braved the scorching summer heat to dedicate the new station.

“I grew up along the Passaic River,” Forrest said. “And as a little kid, my mother used to stand alongside the river … and tell us how we could no longer go into the water, how the water was contaminated and it could kill us.”

Forrest described how his mother also told him that his grandparents and others used to swim and fish in the river — the water was clean and not a hazard to one’s health and well-being, he said. The Passaic was a popular destination for recreation.

A grant of $838,000 was provided by the New Jersey Department of Transportation grant and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection gave the project a low interest loan. The facility was constructed and operates on a previously contaminated and abandoned boatyard.

Kearny Varsity Girls Rowing Coach David Paskiewicz described how important the Passaic River is for students, as many of them garner scholarships by taking part in crew and rowing teams, practicing and competing regularly on the Passaic River.

Paskiewicz also mentioned the ecological benefits he has observed due, in part, to the River Restoration Program, including an abundance of emerging fish.

PVSC members also visit local schools to inform students of the importance of keeping the river clean and how they can actively do so, said Assistant Scientist Thomas Pietrykoski in an interview with The Leader.

Educating students “ensures long-term stewardship of the river,” Pietrykoski said.

“We are closer to our goal — that the Passaic can once again be a treasure,” Luna said.

Pascrell shared Luna’s sentiments over the river and the work that PVSC is actively engaged in to clean up and better the water.

“Today represents a small but important step towards our overall goal of restoring the Passaic River to its glory and to the people who live in this area,” Pascrell said.

Mayor Candidate
Gary Burns

Re-Elect Councilmen
Richard Hughes
Joseph Bianchi