State College misses trash service bid deadline

By Anne Danahy

State College missed its chance Wednesday to compete for a contract that would have expanded its trash collection service to surrounding townships.

Veolia, the current contractor with Centre Region Council of Governments, put in the lowest of two bids for garbage and recycling services. State College borough missed COG’s Wednesday deadline for getting a bid in by about 15 minutes.

The three-year contract runs from 2010 to 2012, with an option for a two-year extension. Veolia’s bid of $15.26 a month for refuse and recycling for the typical customer is $0.18 less than the current price.

Waste Management made a bid of $19.67 for a typical customer. The borough’s bid would have been in the range of $15.91 to $15.99.

Pam Adams, COG’s refuse and recycling coordinator, said the bids will be evaluated before a decision on awarding the contract at the end of August.

As part of the review, Benner Township will decide whether to participate in the trash collection. If it does, that could bring the bill down two cents. One of the bidding options Veolia submitted is $15.24 a month for COG and Benner Township.

State College runs its own garbage collection and decided to look at handling the service for the neighboring municipalities that are part of the COG contract. Assistant Borough Manager Tom Kurtz said borough representatives didn’t get the bid in on time. There was last-minute paperwork that had to be done.

“I think we are disappointed we did not get a bid in on time,” he said.

He said he understood that only bids submitted by the deadline can be considered.

“The rule is it’s got to be in on time. Period,” Kurtz said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s one second or one day or one year late. If it’s late, it’s late.”

The borough will continue to handle its own trash collection. Kurtz said they will likely be a bidder on the service the next time around.