Village of Pelham Mayor Chance Mullen announced at the Nov. 22 trustees meeting that the switch to village-run trash pickup is being postponed until further notice due to supply-chain problems with the construction of four new garbage trucks the village is purchasing.

In a later interview, Mullen said the village’s trash collection operation should begin on March 1.

“We don’t know all the specifics related to the supply chain,” said Mullen. Truck manufacturer Mack “advised us that the same issues that have plagued manufacturers since the start of the pandemic are continuing to an even larger degree than expected.”  

At the meeting, the trustees voted unanimously to extend the village’s contract with Oakridge Waste & Recycling to continue to collect waste in the meantime.

“The current contract extension was set to expire on Dec. 5, 2022 and will now be month-to-month through February to ensure continuity of service,” said Mullen “As part of the agreement, our monthly costs will increase by $6,500 to offset the increased price of fuel, which is now higher than it was when we first entered our agreement with Oakridge.”

In November 2021, the village board voted to buy four diesel-garbage trucks, paving the way for village-run trash collection rather than contracting out the service. This action meant the contract with Oakridge would end and trash pickup would be handled in-house by the village. The service was projected to begin in mid-January.

Under the plan, the village will supply a single family household with three trash cans: a 64-gallon toter for household waste, a 64-gallon toter for paper/cardboard recycling and one 32-gallon toter for mixed recyclables. The toters are still set to be distributed to residences the weeks of Dec. 5 and 12.