Woodbridge and Carteret to share garbage services
Agreement will net Woodbridge $1.8 annually over three years
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer

WOODBRIDGE - After months of negotiation, the townshipmade a dealwith the borough of Carteret last week to lendWoodbridge's services to provide trash and solid waste collection and disposal services for the borough.

Township and borough officials said services started on Feb. 4 without any problems or complaints fromthe residents.

"We were a little nervous on how it was going to be," said Robert Muzzio, president of AFSCME Local 2292 sanitation union in Woodbridge. "But everything went well. We have to becomemore familiar with the [190] streets [in Carteret], but it's nothing that we haven't done before. It took us a little longer, but everything ran smoothly."

Mayor John E. McCormac and Carteret MayorDaniel J.Reiman signed a three-year interlocal contract on Feb. 7.

Carteret council President Ronald G. Rios; Carteret BoroughAttorney andMayor of Keyport Robert J. Bergen; Dennis Henry, director of Woodbridge Township Public Works; Bernie Peterson, township recycling coordinator; Robert Muzzio; and Michael Sarno, the union shop stewart for AFSCME Local 2292, joined the two mayors for the press conference and signing.

The interlocal agreement for the collection of municipal solid waste calls for Carteret to pay $1.8 million to Woodbridge over a three-year period (Feb. 1, 2008, to Jan. 31, 2011), which will be a savings of more than $300,000 to the Carteret taxpayers.

"This agreement is monumental," said Reiman. "Twenty-five years ago, we eliminated the public sector and moved into the private sector for trash and solid waste collection to save the borough costs. Now 25 years later, we are moving from the private sector back into the public sector because the costs are exceeding the government inflation for the pickup."

Reiman said the new bids they received from the private sector increased to $2.05 million this year from $1.2 million for their trash and solid waste collection.

The collection is divided into three districts of the borough, and pickup will occur on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week.

"Since February 4, 80 tons of trash and solidwaste have been already collected from our 6,500 structures and 7,200 families and businesses," saidReiman. "We expect 10,500 tons to be collected by the end of the year."

Carteret, according to the 2000U.S.Census, has a population of 20,709 in a 5-squaremile area.

McCormac said thiswas awin-win agreement for both his township and their neighbor.

"This agreement is a perfect example of what two communities can achieve when they have the same goal and are able towork together to provide effectivemunicipal services at stable prices, using existing municipal resources, and which results in shared benefits to the taxpayers of both communities," he said.

The Woodbridge Department of Public Works has assigned 12 sanitation employees, four rear-load trash trucks and one frontend load truck to collect and dispose of Carteret's residential household trash (type- 10 solid waste that includes garbage, refuse and bulk waste).

Sarno said it was important to mention that the 12 sanitation employees provide their services for the borough of Carteret without any loss of services inWoodbridge.

The four trucks and 12 sanitation employees were freed up due to the reorganization of the township's garbage and recycling schedule.

Each section of the township still receives twice-weekly trash pickup and consolidated curbside recycling collection every Wednesday.

The interlocal agreement of trash and solidwaste collection and disposal services is not the first agreement betweenWoodbridge and Carteret, and township and borough officials said it won't be the last.

In December, the twomayors announced the opening of the Industrial Highway Extension, which provides a real alternative to heavy commercial traffic by removing hundreds of trucks fromlocal streets in Carteret and the Port Reading section ofWoodbridge.

The township is completing arrangements to share library services. TheCarteret librarywill be consolidated intoWoodbridge's library. The borough and the township also share services for the county Meals on Wheels program.

"Wemake themeals inCarteret and they are delivered throughout the borough and Woodbridge," said Reiman.

The township is also in the final stages of negotiating a contract with the borough to provide shelter and pet adoption services for the borough.