Additional curbside yard waste collection service and curbside leaf collection service added to township trash pick-up
The five residents elected to sit on your township committee are charged with various responsibilities. I’ve always felt that establishing and fulfilling a vision for our town and creating a sense of community were top priorities, but they are intangible objectives.
The most obvious “tangible” objectives are that we provide the services required by our residents, such as police protection, public works support, parks and recreation facilities and trash removal. Your tax dollars pay for all of this, so every decision we make is done so with the utmost consideration and scrutiny.
Simultaneously, we seek to provide the highest and best level of service possible since we believe that Harrison Township is a preeminent community in South Jersey, worthy of that standard. That’s the formula we have used in creating the level of services that exist in our town today and with the opening of our new police department upon us, our tangible assets continue to make our intangible vision a reality — Harrison Township is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. The new police department now joins the ranks of our parks and recreational facilities and our public works staff as the “best” in the region. Yes, I know I’m a little biased…but as your mayor, I’m supposed to be.
Today I point to a less glamorous service that is often overlooked: The Trash & Recycling Program in Harrison Township. We made a monumental decision four years ago to terminate our contract with the private trash hauler the town had in place for years and entered into a shared service agreement with Logan Township to collect our trash. Hindsight confirms this to have been a wise decision from both a fiscal and process perspective.
The initial fiscal impact in 2014 saved the town $100,000 annually and in renewing our contract for 2017, Logan actually cut that rate. The move also transitioned us to an automated collection process, which has been great. This year we added a curbside yard waste collection service, which has been a consistent resident request. Included in this service is a curbside leaf collection service, which we will get to see for the first time this fall. For those of you with tree-rich properties, no more bagging — just rake them to the curb on the designated day.
The Bulk Pickup and Scrap Metal & Appliance Collection programs remain in place, along with the county’s Hazardous Items Disposal program. Our Recycling Center at 151 Colson Road continues to be a popular spot also.
If you have any questions, check out the Trash & Recycling page on the township website at http://harrisontwp.us/municipal-departments/trash-recycling/. Make it a great week!
Louis Manzo is the mayor of Harrison Township. He can be reached via email at [email protected] and online at www.harrisontwp.us.
