$500,000 Recycling Grant

State has agreed to give Franklin Park Borough a $500,000 Grant for recycling waste, see:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10056/1038234-54.stm

Trash will be picked up in 3 containers, household waste, recycling waste and yard waste by automated trucks, the kind you can see in Pine Twp. on Thursdays.

Any comments from any of the residents of the Borough would be welcome.

The Grant will give us $500,000 for recycling containers only. Garbage containers would have to be purchased by residents or can be paid for as an add on to the Quarterly Refuse Invoice.

My sense is that the garbage pick up rates will have to go up since it is a slower trash pick up process. Also, I have a concern about true competition because not too many waste haulers have the automated trucks other than Waste Management.

I am opposed to accepting this Grant because it will simply cost our residents more to change to this new automated trash collection system and in these economic times, there is no reason to jump to any higher cost option at this time.

SURPLUS! SURPLUS!! and SURPLUS!!!

Borough Manager, Mr. Rocca wrote to Council and Mayor on Sep 4, 09 that the Borough will end the year NEGATIVE $50,000 .
Then on Nov 18, 09 Mr. Rocca said that the Borough will end the year with $100,000 in our Public Meeting, see Minutes of the Meeting on Borough's Website.
That is the same day that the Council approved Local Service Tax (I was not present but I would have voted NO along with Mr. Hrishenko)

The Treasurer's Report of Dec 31, 09 shows the Borough ended with $650,000+ in Unrestricted Cash and another $300,000 in Restricted Cash, almost A MILLION DOLLARS in the bank.

The unnecessary Local Service Tax needs repealed this year. I did want to make a Motion at the January, 2010 meeting (see the Minutes of the Meeting on Borough Website: www.franklinparkborough.us) to that effect but I backed off at the last minute. I would like to see the actual receipts for Local Service Tax in the 1st. and 2nd. Quarter before making a Motion to repeal this pointless tax that does nothing but CREATE A JOB for a TAX COLLECTOR.