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Upper St. Clair switching to automated recycling pickup in 2015

By Carla Valentine Myers 3 min read

Upper St. Clair Township will transition to automated recycling pick up in early 2015 after agreeing Dec. 2 to a new five-year contract with Waste Management.

The $6,030,186 contract, which runs from 2014 through 2018, will maintain the current recycling system for the first year and three months of the contract, according to Mark Mansfield, assistant township manager.

Mansfield told commissioners Nov. 4 that the recycling pick ups will still take place every other week as they currently do. When automated recycling pick up is implemented in 2015, residents will have to place all recycling in the new larger bins with wheels and lids on hinges. He said the process is automated because Waste Management will have only the driver on the truck, which will use mechanics to dump the recycling.

Waste management will provide the bins, which will be owned by the township at the end of the five-year contract. Mansfield said Dec. 2 that the bins are expected to have a 10-year life span and cost $280,000.

Mansfield said Nov. 4 that Peters Township in Washington County and Scott Township in Allegheny County recently decided to transition to automated recycling.

Commissioner Daniel Paoly on Nov. 4 said that he didn’t want to have to buy additional recycling containers. He said the way it works currently is that if he fills up the recycling can, he can put out additional bags of recycling that are taken away.

Lisa McKnight, representing Waste Management, said Nov. 4 that most municipalities don’t limit the number of bins each resident is permitted to have.

Mansfield said he only heard from one resident who objected to going to automated recycling. He said they expect a high rate of approval by resident to the new method.

Commissioners voted 6-0 to sign the new contract Dec. 2. Commissioner Mark Christie was absent.

• Adopted the 2014 budget for the township which includes no tax increases. The $19.9 million general fund budget keeps the real estate tax rate at 3.83 mills and the earned income tax rate at 0.8 percent. August Stache, finance director for the township, said the only change to the budget since the Nov. 4 public hearing on the proposed budget was to add $40,000 to study the feasibility of adding lighting to athletic fields at Boyce Mayview Park as requested by the Upper St. Clair Athletic Association.

• Approved a request to split into two parts the first phase of the Bedner Estates PRD development off Cook School Road. The request was to essentially split the first phase into two parts, dividing it between the two home builders. According to an attorney for the developer on Nov. 4, the request would separate the phases into a 21-lot section for Thomas Homes and a 35-lot section for Heartland Homes. The mayor-elect of Bridgeville, Pasquale DeBlasio, came to the commissioners meeting to raise concerns again about the development’s connection to Main Street in Bridgeville. He said he hopes the township and Bridgeville will have a better working relationship after he takes office in January. “We have many common difficulties to solve,” he said.

• Approved a zoning map change and text amendment for rezoning of the former Consol property at 1800 Washington Road from Special Business District to Special Business-Mixed Use District. An attorney for the developer said Nov. 4 the request was being made as a result of court challenges and appeals regarding the zoning text amendment that made the development possible. He said the permitted uses and rules for the site will be the same as they exist today, but they will be part of a re-zoning and new zoning district.

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