Villadom Times Weekly Local Newspaper

Waldwick April 21, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 9 A joint effort by four area towns is expected to result in substantial savings in solid waste disposal costs. The municipalities involved are now assessing their options before awarding contracts that would go into effect June 1. Under the leadership of Waldwick Borough Administrator Gary Kratz, Ramsey, Midland Park and Glen Rock, as well as Waldwick, jointly bid a contract for garbage disposal earlier this month and received a bid of $64 a ton. That is $18 a ton less than Waldwick currently pays to the Bergen County Utilities Authority for the service and $4 a ton less than the bid the BCUA itself got only two days earlier from the same contractor. Waldwick alone stands to save $90,000 a year, Kratz said. Midland Park, which now pays the BCUA $79 a ton for the 3,000 tons collected each year, would stand to save $45,000 with the new bid. “Our responsibility is to our residents, and we were able to achieve a better deal than the county,” Kratz said. “I am not certain of the reasons. Perhaps something in the county specs that I didn’t have in ours enabled us to get a cheaper price,” he said. Totowa-based Veolia Environmental Service was the lowest of four bidders for the first year of the three-year contract. That price would rise to $64.74 per ton in the Serving ty un ergen Co ars B 25 Ye for Borough could save on disposal second year and $65.50 for the third year of the contract. The administrator explained that the original thought for bidding independently of the BCUA was that New York State contractors would be interested in towns closer to their transfer station and would turn in lower prices. As it was, Kratz said, only one New York company bid, and it was not the low bidder. The contract specifies a dumping site no farther than 30 miles from the area. The joint contract will be administered through Ramsey, which is the lead agency for the Northwest Bergen Consortium, through which the 13 area towns bid many projects, including road resurfacing. The impetus for the garbage disposal joint venture, according to Kratz, came from a disposal price of only $66 Wyckoff received recently when it decided to go out to bid on the service. Since then, Franklin Lakes and Oakland have joined in Wyckoff’s contract. Wyckoff expects to save about $100,000 a year with the new contract which was achieved by combining the garbage disposal tonnage of all three municipalities in order to create a larger contract and achieve a cost savings due to the volume. Recreation cut; pool opening delayed The Waldwick Mayor and Council had to make several tough decisions in preparing a 2010 budget that complies with state budget caps. The $13,595,850 spending plan was introduced last week and will have a public hearing on May 11. According to Borough Administrator Gary Kratz, a last-minute reduction of $450,286 in the state energy tax payment necessitated a $400,000 cut in operating expenses. Expenses are up $151,674 or 1.1 percent of the total budget. Of this amount, $116,481 will go to cover the increase is sewer charges to the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority. “We went back and looked at every department’s expense, and every department came back with cuts,” Kratz said. These will include: • Not replacing two full-time employees who are retiring, and one part-timer who is being laid off. • Eliminating the summer recreation and tennis programs. Last summer 370 children participated (continued on page 15) Additions • Renovations Kitchen, Bathroom & Basement Remodeling Windows • Doors • Siding • Rooﬁng Interior & Exterior Carpentry Licensed & Insured • Free Estimates Home Remodeling LLC Irish �� by Usui and Tibetan Reiki Master Nancy L. Pianfetti ��  �� Spacious Studio & 1BR �� NOW RENTING Available Immediately �� All work performed by owner 201-488-5085 Hillsdale, NJ • 201-965-5281 �� ☛ �� ☛ �� ☛ �� ✤ �� ✤ �� ✤ �� ✤ �� ✤ �� ✤ ��