W. Lebanon Township to request bids for trash service, approves pickup change

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The West Lebanon Township Board of Commissioners voted on April 6 to solicit bids for a new, three-year trash and recycling contract.

Commissioners initially said they wanted to renew their one-year contract with Weidle Sanitation, which expires on June 30, but solicitor Paul Bametzreider said the contract doesn’t include any language about renewal terms.

“I have not had any problems with trash removal — as a matter of fact, it looks better than it has in many years,” commissioner Michelle Testerman said. “My cans are put exactly where they were, I don’t have things flying all over the place, it’s picked up in a timely manner.”

A representative with Weidle Sanitation was in attendance and said he did not know if trash rates would remain consistent in the next contract. Residents pay $84 per quarter, and there is a military and senior rate of $78 per quarter.

Bametzreider said they can include language about renewal in the next trash and recycling contract, but they cannot contractually bind a future board to a previous board’s decision. Testerman said she wanted a longer contract to protect the township from annual rate increases.

“My recommendation would be that that’s subject to legal review to make sure that you can do that,” Bametzreider said. “If you want, when you prepare your language, if you could send it over to me, I can review it and try and make sure that we get everything lined up.”

Commissioners also approved a change to trash pickup days. Toward the start of May, Weidle Sanitation would like to switch to picking up trash and recycling on Tuesdays rather than Wednesdays.

The Weidle representative said they are rerouting the municipalities they cover to hopefully save on gas.

“After we bought TNT [Sanitation], our trucks are literally overlapping each other street to street to street,” he said. “Some days, we have three trucks at the same street doing three individual houses next door to each other.”

Testerman said that taking this step could show that the township is willing to be flexible, and they might receive a good bid with the gas-efficient new routes.

Commissioners said the township will send out a message to residents when they know exactly when the new pickup schedule will start.

In other business, commissioners:

• Agreed to a letter of interest regarding a fire company commission with North Cornwall Township. Commissioners said the letter is not a commitment and is just a statement that the township is willing to move forward in good faith.
• Dedicated North 18th Street from Lehman Street to Alamo Way.
• Adopted Speedwell Engine & Hose Boxcards #39-01 and #39-02.
• Updated the employee handbook regarding severe weather and office closures, with an additional edit to allow both the township manager and commission president to inform staff rather than just the manager.

West Lebanon Township will meet next on May 4 at 7 p.m. at the municipal building at 322 N. 22nd St., Lebanon. Meetings are streamed on Zoom and can be accessed through a link posted to the website before the meeting.