Warminster Township: J.P. Mascaro Update

Press release from the Warminster Township:

September 17, 2021

The Board of Supervisors recognizes there is a major challenge with trash, recycling, and yard waste collection with J. P. Mascaro & Sons (Mascaro), with whom the Township entered into a five-year contract in December 2018. We, as residents of the Township are as frustrated as you with Mascaro and outraged that our Township suffers from their continued lack of service. The decomposing yard waste and eyesore of trash receptacles on the street seven days a week is inexcusable and unacceptable. Other waste haulers are struggling as well, but when speaking with other Townships that are not using Mascaro, they appear to be faring much better.

The Township threatened Mascaro with fines in 2020 for not fulfilling their agreed to services. Mascaro responded with slightly better service; however, that slowly eroded away, and we are now left with a situation that worsens every day. We had their operations manager and general counsel at the July 2021 meeting and they submitted a Contingency Plan. As we all can see when driving through the Township, they have not executed that Plan. We expect Mascaro to put as many resources into the Township to alleviate what is turning into a health emergency.

As Chairman, I communicate with the Township Manager on a daily basis to develop a viable plan to rectify the current situation. These include:

• Allowing Mascaro to modify collection times and collection methods in an effort to get accumulated trash and yard waste collected as quickly as possible. This had minor impact on the problem;
• Attempting to contract with other haulers as an emergency contingency. They all declined stating they are stretched thin and cannot provide any resources; and
• Using Township resources to pick up yard waste. This may free up Mascaro’s resources to get current with trash and recycling.

The Board has run out of patience and will not entertain any excuses about labor shortage as we can see their hiring model is not working. This Board gave Mascaro every opportunity to fix the problem over the past year, and the service is worse than ever.

The Board agrees that we must take further action as we continue to reach out to haulers to assist along with using Township resources. Other actions may include fines, performance bond options, and a variety of litigation steps. I remain hopeful we can resolve the problem without these options, but everything remains on the table.

We recognize how frustrating it is to see trash and yard waste accumulate in front of your house. To reiterate, we are residents of the Township and have trash in front of our homes, too. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as we work to solve this problem before it becomes a health emergency; however we must also recognize there are limited options because of contracting processes and a lack of alternate haulers. Our staff is working tirelessly to resolve the situation, and we will continue to until we resolve the problem. We are also tracking all costs associated with this for future corrective action.

This press release was produced by the Warminster Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.