Trash
Talk
For official
Township trash dept info
-
www.abingtonpa.gov or
call -
267-536-1038
10-09
Clean out
- October 13 through October
16 clean out amnesty all week (on your trash day )----- no computers no
hazardous waste but a good time to get rid of all that excess. By the way if
you were a flood victim - just call the township refuse dept and they will come
pick up things you need to dispose of at any time.
9-09
Trash Can Size Change
- September 25th deadline 3 p.m. call - 267-536-1038
6-30-08 Pay
to Throw ( Now Called Variable Rate Trash) It's here ! Public works meeting : Details have been revealed
about the pricing for the trash program
you will be choosing you were size can by September 1 ( or
perhaps a little later)
95 and ends for $262 a year.
65 gallon cans for $235 a year.
35 gallon cans for $208 a year
Extra trash :
What doesn't fit in your and will be able to put out in a bag
that you buy from the Township. It will be a colored bag
(blue,) will cost $.50 a bag. It will hold up
to ( I think they said) 35 pounds and $.50 that you pay
is for the trash that's in the bag not for the bag itself The
reason for buying the bag is so that you pay for the additional
trash that you throw.
If you want a second can, ( I believe by July or August
the policy changed and you may now request an extra can whether
or not you have the largest --- ask at the township --)
the original thoughts in June of 08 were they were saying you first should have
the largest can - (95 gallons) -unless you are elderly or have some reason why
you can't use the 95
gallon can. They said they may consider the 65 gallon can for you the
cost of the second cans are $82 for the 95 gallon can $55 for
the 65 gallon can and $25 for of the 35 gallon can - You should
look on the Township website
or call to find the most current details as
all of this is subject to change
There will be another clean out in fall, probably October, and next
year April 14-17 and October 6-9, 2009.
On cleanout days, you can put out any amount of trash, except
you can't put out computer trash and hazardous material or
construction materials.
You shouldn't trade cans with your neighbors, if you have
a problem call the Township and swap it because the Township is
keeping serial numbers as to what can goes with what house
_______________________________
6-12-08 The
variable rate system is here ! As of the June 4, 2008
Public Works meeting we can safely say the variable rate system
is alive and well - as we knew it would be - even though
it was "taken off the table" when we asked questions about it
initially. Instead, they reverted to an old
favorite - handling the process piecemeal. We saw the same thing
with Channel 43. Without a view of the whole plan, it is
hard for residents to intelligently comment.
First, the automated program was
instituted - ward by ward. And word was that everyone was deemed
to be happy with the trial. (That was not what I was
hearing behind the scenes.) And although it was
called a trial, it did not contain any of the crucial elements
of the final program - like how overflow is handled, what about
large clean-outs and could pay to throw ever be fair when
sometimes you use 4 cans and sometimes your single can is 1/2
full? The "trial" was conducted while picking up all your
trash - but after the trial was over, we were alerted overflow
would be extra. And the program was approved before all
the wards even had their trial, or before any open polling was
done. OK what is - is . Moving on....here's the
latest.
Details are still
fuzzy on how you will pay for normal "over-flow" &
the kind of overflow you get when you do Spring cleaning . At
the July Public Works meeting, we will be learning more .
As it stands, it looks like we will be required to choose
what size can we want - small medium or large- by September. The
fees for each are different . See the township website for
details - they are still finalizing their plans. The can
you pick in September is what you will be expected to keep for
the coming year. There may be only one opportunity to
change this per year ( unless you have just moved in or
have some other special situation - in which case an "interim
bill " will be issued to make the change ) . You can have
a second can if you pay the cost.
The new pricing will start in January - the need to
pick in September is so they can prepare the bills . Check the
Township website for more info - hopefully some of the
details will be found there .
_______________________________
1-08 Overview & update as
of Jan 08: In 2006 a Pay to Throw trash
system was proposed. Some trial areas were established in the
township . As it went along, residents questioned how it would
work and the refuse department seemed to be trying to work those
details out. Along the way, the Pay to Throw idea seemed to be
amended and residents were assured all their trash, no matter if
they had overflow, would still be picked up with this new
Automated Trash system and that everyone's fee was still the
same.
Very little public
debate or comment was heard from the trial areas, and in Nov '
06 the system was approved. To some of us watching, that
appeared to be without any real comments heard publicly from the
residents. As of the end of January '08.
The new system is virtually all throughout the Township -
the final neighborhoods just getting underway with it .
The most frequently heard complaint is that some folks,
particularly seniors, seem to be having trouble with the size of
the cans and getting them out to the road. Ward 2
Commissioner Robert Wachter at the January meeting suggested
that they take their cans out to the curb empty and carry the
trash to them separately.
Although at one point it appeared the Pay to Throw idea had been
abandoned, in December a Times Chronicle report
quoted Mr. Conway suggesting that that might be under
consideration again.
PRIOR
HAPPENINGS that brought us to this point
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