By ROBERT LINNEHAN
In an interesting bit of business this past week at the borough meeting, Commissioners Jeff Kasko and Ed Borden approved a resolution that will allow a taxi cab to roam the streets of Haddonfield looking for passengers.
The Commissioners approved a 2011 taxicab owners license for the Atlas Cab Company, which will operate a 1999 Dodge Caravan in the borough. Kasko said that an operator needs to have the license approved by the borough before the car can pick up passengers.
Borden said it’s not everyday that a taxi cab operator applies for a license in Haddonfield.
“It’s really not often that we receive any taxi cabs in Haddonfield,” he said. “There are no other taxi cab licenses right now in the borough.”
Prior to their recommendation to approve the license application, Borden said that the Haddonfield Police Department was asked to run a background check on the cab company.
Police Chief John Banning said the background check came back clean and it was a taxi cab company in good standing.
In other borough news, the commissioner rejected bids for recycling services in the borough and re-advertised for other companies. The borough only received one bid from Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc., which offered four options ranging from almost $1.3 million to $938,000 for the year.
The borough will advertise for new bids in several weeks. If a company is found that brings in a bid under the borough’s budget for recycling services, the operation will likely be outsourced and several DPW employees will be let go.
Resident Betty Phillips criticized the Commissioners for looking into the outsourcing. Times are tough right now, she said, and it wouldn’t be right to lay off any more borough employees.
The Commissioners thanked Phillips for her concerns, but said that any option right now to possibly save tax payer money has to be investigated.
