Tamaqua Borough Council rejected all of the bids received for the garbage and recycling contract at Tuesday's meeting, even though the current one expires at the end of this month. Despite the fact that the lowest three-year bid contract offering was $149,949 lower than the lowest bid received and awarded in 2011, council feels they can do better.

Councilman Tom Cara immediately motioned to reject the bids. Councilman Dan Evans asked if council wasn't happy with the bid or the terms of the bids, or both. Cara said it was "worth a try" to get lower bids. Borough solicitor Michael Greek advised council the current bids will be voided and they will have to accept the lowest bid from the second round of bidding, regardless of whether it was lower or higher than the current bid.Jonas Kreitzer, who represented County Waste, the low bid submitter, questioned why the bid was not accepted. "Despite your contract ending in two weeks, the current bid being $237,271 below the next lowest bid, and almost $200,000 lower than your previous contract, council thinks it can do better?" he asked.Councilman Ron Bowman said, "I can see our current provider (Tamaqua Transfer and Recycling Inc.) dropping his numbers. That's not our intent, but it could happen."Kreitzer said there is no guarantee that County Waste will submit a bid the next time."The contract has not been bid this low in well over a decade," he said. Kreitzer also asked if the referrals that were required for the bid were not acceptable. Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt said the referrals for County Waste had all been favorable.Tamaqua Fire Chief Tom Hartz made his recommendation to council."To me, our current provider is unsafe with their vehicles. We had that accident down in Owl Creek. They leave diesel trails all around town."Resident Tom Schlorf asked if County Waste hired local workers. He said Tamaqua Transfer hires from the Tamaqua Area. Kreitzer said his company is based in Schuylkill County and he hires locally."I can't say right now how many employees I have from Tamaqua, but I have hired from here before," he said.Larry Wittig, president of Tamaqua Transfer and Recycling, also attended the meeting.The three-year bid contracts submitted were: County Waste of Tremont, $1,465,596; Tamaqua Transfer & Recycling of Tamaqua, $1,702,867; Advanced Disposal of Northampton, $2,000,877; and J.P. Mascaro & Sons of Nanticoke, $2,140,776.The borough last bid the garbage contract in 2011, accepting a bid from Tamaqua Transfer and recycling in the amount of $1,615,542. They also opted to extend this contract two more years after it expired.Councilmen Brian Connely, Tom Cara, Micah Gursky and Council President David Mace voted to reject the bids. Councilmen Ron Bowman and Dan Evans voted against rejecting the bids. Councilwoman Kerry Lasky was absent.