In an effort to improve the condition of the Borough’s streets, the personnel normally assigned to garbage collection are being re-assigned to snow removal on the 20th and 21st of February. Recycling collection on both days will remain the same. The Borough has already spent nearly twice as much money on snow removal in 2014 as we spent in the entirety of last year. The cancelation of garbage collection will reduce the amount of overtime that will be required to clear the streets of snow. We need to balance the required work with our budget restrictions.
We are acutely aware that these reductions in garbage collection place a burden on many families. However, we would not have made this decision if it was not the best alternative available to us. Our goal is to have as many of our streets as possible cleared of snow curb-to-curb, so we can lift the parking ban that continuous to be in place. The benefits of our snow removal efforts are already clearly visible if you travel on Washington Avenue as we recently cleared a large amount of snow from the street.
Depending on the progress we make in clearing streets of snow during this week, the possibility does exist that we may have to cancel garbage collection next week on Thursday and Friday as well. We will keep you informed as soon as a decision is made. Additionally, we are also looking to making some changes to the scheduled collection of vegetative waste in order to accommodate the anticipated huge increase in pot holes that will occur because of the weather. Again, you will be kept informed as soon as decisions are made.
The cooperation of the residents during this very stormy winter season has been tremendous, and we are all thankful.
