Borough clerk Doreen Cali, during Monday night’s Mayor & Council meeting, stated that the Borough resolved its issues with the contractor earlier that day and that leaves are going to be picked up by Great Northern until their contract expires on November 18th. The DPW will then have that responsibility starting November 22, 2010.
Councilman and mayor-elect Joe Accardi gave a summary of the issue which started in early November and relayed to residents the resolution.
“Throughout the course of this we have been proactive,” he stated during his report, referring to ongoing discussions that borough officials and staff had with the contractor since November 11th.
Jean Barnes, a resident who came to the meeting along with some of her neighbors to speak on the issue of leaves, wanted more clarification, “When the leaves were picked up, I had 10 cans out there, they would pick up one. When they come around, will they be picking up all the leaves?”
Additionally, she asked if the picking up of leaves could be extended, “Will the town be extending the deadline? I know it’s usually early December when you have to have your leaves out which my tree in the backyard doesn’t always listen to that, will they be extending the time length?”
Mayor DeIorio responded, “We can consider that, too, because of the problems we had over the last couple of weeks. We’ll put that on our list of ‘to-dos’.”
Ms. Cali gave further explanation on the matter, “Last year was the first time we switched to vegetative waste. There was always a different type of pickup done prior to that. This year… we added the leaves to the contract.”
Another resident, Andrew Casais, asked if the contractor, Great Northern, would be repay the residents for work not done, “Since they didn’t do the work they were supposed to be doing, will we be re-compensated?”
Mrs. Cali responded, “Yes. Vegetative waste pickup is scheduled for Thursdays. What he’s going to do is start picking up leaves tomorrow instead of waiting for Thursday.”
Although not mentioned, it appears that leaves will not be picked up between November 19-21. Any resident with questions on leaf pickup after November 22nd can contact the DPW at (908) 245-7676 or through e-mail at vcahill@rosellepark.net. Residents with questions on pickup before November 19th can reach the Borough Clerk’s office at (908) 245-6222.