North Belle Vernon: Council ponders sanitation options

By TAYLOR BROWN

tbrown@yourmvi.com

North Belle Vernon’s involvement with the Mon Valley Refuse Authority remains up in the air.

After several weeks of discussion with each other and the authority, council has yet to make a decision on whether to remain with the authority after its six-year contract expires at the end of this year or find its own garbage hauler.

The refuse authority offers garbage service to North Belle Vernon and Monessen. With representatives from both communities, it has a board that decides which company will collect garbage in each municipality.

The service is currently handled by Waste Management, and the arrangement has caused headaches for the borough involving billing, service and problem solving for the past several years.

Earlier this year, the refuse authority reached out to council for information regarding the number of residential and commercial garbage accounts in the borough as it prepares to negotiate contracts for 2022.

Numbers were supposed to be submitted to the refuse authority by March 15, but council members are not sure how to most accurately collect the information they need to present.

According to numbers from the current contract, the borough has 937 residential accounts and 92 commercial accounts, but those numbers have not always been accurate because some commercial properties have dumpsters and are double billed for both commercial and residential collection. Other residential properties have only paid one bill, but have since been divided into duplexes or apartments.

Borough Secretary Leanna Book said she is unsure how to figure it out.

Book, who sends out and collects bills for the borough with help from Councilwoman Paula Usher, said she has been keeping a list of bills returned to sender or submitted with invalid addresses, but aside from knocking door to door, she isn’t sure what to do.

“I don’t know how to find these multiple properties with multiple apartments,” she said.

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