Trash Pickup Expands In Cherry Hill

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Cherry Hill is buying a truck to help with the municipality's trash collection, township officials said.

Cherry Hill's primary trash collector, Republic Services, has frequently failed to follow its trash pickup schedule this year, the municipality's mayor previously said.

At the Cherry Hill Township Council Meeting held on Aug. 16, the council voted unanimously to purchase the truck for $268,149.

Some of that cost is coming from funds previously set aside to pay Republic Services, Jay Skilvas, Cherry Hill's Director of Public Works, said at that meeting.

"The truck will be used for multiple purposes," Skilvas said during a caucus meeting. "It will pickup illegal dumping throughout the town, would support yard waste collection, illegal house moveouts and storm debris pickups."

"This would help us supplement [Republic] if we needed to help them like we have in the last four months and would help us be more proficient in doing so," he continued.

The new truck would only need three township employees to be used efficiently, according to Skilvas. The previous truck the township used in these situations needed five or six township employees to reach that level of service, according to Skilvas.

Township officials did not say when the new truck might be delivered to the township.

Cherry Hill is one of several Camden and Burlington county municipalities whose leaders have reported trash collection delays this year. Republic Services has attributed the delays to "staffing challenges."

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