by Robert Holt
MICKLETON — In their meeting on Jan. 22, the East Greenwich Township Committee authorized a new three-year agreement with OMNI Recycling LLC for a disposal facility. East Greenwich’s previous five-year agreement with OMNI expires in 2019, but the recycling market had contracted since 2015.
Committeeman Stephen Bottiglieri said the companies make deals based on the market rate. He noted that East Greenwich did not have to pay for tons of trash collected during the extent of the five-year deal. “The market can’t handle zero percent,” observed Bottiglieri.
East Greenwich was not charged by Omni for collecting recyclables, but the community received a smaller rebate based on tonnage collected, according to the Committeeman. Director of the Environmental Commission Fred Hills and Public Works Manager Anthony Rossett handled the negotiations on the new agreement.
Bottiglieri pointed out that East Greenwich would now pay OMNI $40 for each ton of trash collected, but that number is still less than every other community pays. He indicated that the average per ton is $69. He added that East Greenwich had saved about $600,000 over the extent of the 2015 contract.
In other news, a public hearing on an ordinance that would facilitate the sale of abandoned and foreclosed properties was tabled and would be rescheduled. A revised ordinance regarding the abandoned and foreclosed properties was adopted.
Another resolution awarded the full vehicle maintenance and repair contract for 2019 to Riehl’s Towing and Maintenance.
Under discussion items, the Committee agreed to extend the operating hours of the Mt. Royal Inn to 2 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3. They also scheduled a budget discussion meeting for 6:30 p.m. on Tues. Feb. 5.
“I recommend that we get all the budget meetings done at once,” commented Bottiglieri. “It might take a marathon session, but they would all get done.”
Bottiglieri noted that all the department heads understood how the budget meetings worked, and they gave presentations that indicated where they wanted their departments to be in the next two years or so.
