Palmerton will solicit proposals for solid waste collection.

To that end, the borough will accept bids until 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17.Whomever is awarded the contract will provide labor and equipment for pick-up, transportation, and disposal and/or recycling of municipal solid waste generated from about 1,950 residential and commercial units within the borough.Borough Manager Rodger Danielson said the borough's current contract with Tamaqua Transfer is set to expire at the end of this year. It was originally a three-year contract that was extended on two annual renewals, he said."What we are looking at with this bid is we are looking at an alternate with going with a tote bin system," Danielson said. "It's a 96-gallon container, and will probably be picked up by the truck mechanically, so we'll get away from the bags and loose stuff that's been piled, and it will go in the tote bin."Danielson added "It just makes for a clean pickup."As for the estimated cost associated with the contract, Danielson noted "We hope that it's going to be similar to where we've been at. We are also bidding it by conventional method to see."