Last Day For Storm Debris Pickup Is Wednesday
Contractors have to remove their own debris
You still have time to drag moldy Sheetrock, insulation, ruined furniture, construction debris and any other Superstorm Sandy-related items out to the curb.
But residents will have to hurry.
Wednesday, Jan. 16 is the last day AshBritt - the company Ocean County officials awarded a contract to after the storm - will be picking up any Sandy-related items.
Contractors are responsible for removing their own debris, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said.
Residents who have other storm-related debris like furniture and appliances will have to contact the Public Works Department for removal, he said.
Berkeley Township officials entered into a shared services agreement between the county and many other towns in mid-November, to move the cleanup along more quickly than the public works department could manage on its own.
Public works employees had been working nearly around the clock, seven days a week, before the agreement.
AshBritt last week estimated the amount at 1 million cubic yards in the 10 weeks since the storm.
During a normal month, the county dumps about 35,000 tons of garbage at the county landfill, Ernest Kuhlwein Jr., the county's director of solid waste management said at a recent Board of Freeholders meeting.
In November, that figure was 120,000 tons, and December saw 180,000 tons, he said. The county is paying $81 per ton for debris taken to the landfill.
Berkeley officials had originally set the debris removal cut-off date for Dec. 31, but decided to extend it another two weeks after two Nor'easters struck after the storm.
"In light of the recent storms, I'm open to suggestions," Township Council President James J. Brynes said at a recent council meeting. "We really need to have a stop date so we can get reimbursement from FEMA."
john
3:14 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
i m confused, if insurance is paying a contractor to do the work, why does the garbage end up curbside and the local taxpayer picking up the bill, when the ins co is paying for demo etc.....
foggyworld
11:31 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Insurance hasn't paid anyone a dime and the FEMA FLOOD insurance will only pass out paperwork for homeowners to apply for LOANS. The only FEMA money spent on the few residents that needed a roof over their heads and food, is the sum total of what homeowners will be receiving. Not many contractors are working on storm damaged houses because the owners haven't received any benefit from the insurance premiums paid for years and in many cases, decades.
Patricia A. Miller
4:24 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
My mistake. Contractors are already responsible for picking up their debris.
foggyworld
3:05 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
There aren't many contractors around because the property owners haven't received any money from insurance policies to hire a contractor.
Our area has debris out in the rain right now and I am sure no one will be here to pick it up. But do understand that it has been mainly homeowners who have carted that stuff to curbs. There hasn't been much help from anywhere in this neighborhood. And the few contractors have been paid by folks using their savings which were supposed to get them through old age.
My husband and I paid for a dumpster for people around us for six weeks and just had to stop.
john
4:28 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
another issue i have is , the one s benefiting from all the free garbage removal, and when property taxes soar due to lost ratable s, the rest of us are going to get slammed.. oh the pain.....
foggyworld
3:11 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
John, I think you ought to talk to those who have been hit so severely. Only those who needed a roof over their heads and food have received anything and most of my neighbors are living with friends and relatives and haven't received much of anything whatsoever from the Town or County. And the passes they have made to push dirt around via a snow plow and any other efforts they make will be paid for by FEMA. The towns will be OK: it's the people whose homes were damaged who are being slammed and being held back from getting back to those high ratables we were paying.
foggyworld
11:25 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Many homeowners have been picking up tabs and not waiting for outside help. In our small area two homeowners leased large dumpsters for about six weeks for general use and then paid to have the debris removed. At least where I live, there has not been very much storm garbage removal made by the town. As a matter of fact, we didn't even get brown can pick ups for the first three weeks when we really needed it.
Most folks want to repair and rebuild according to new codes but because not a penny has been received from insurance companies, our hands are tied. But don't think your ratables will soar because all of these repaired or new homes will come back in and have higher ratables than ever because the new homes will be assessed at much higher rates.
The town has already threatened higher taxes because of the many foreclosed houses: they aren't sending in tax money. The other approach to not raising taxes is to consider reducing the size of the Town's budget. It's time that that was looked at anyway.