Trash pickups will cost Nesquehoning more beginning next month, as prices continue to rise for the service; however residents won’t see a change in their bills until 2025.

On Wednesday, borough council approved a new five-year contract with Tamaqua Transfer at a cost of $3,421,085 for trash services from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2029.

The new contract is approximately $1.4 million more than the last one the borough entered into in 2019.

Councilwoman Suzanne Smith, chair of the sanitation committee, said that the contract mostly remains the same, except with two changes.

Residents will now have bulk item pickups on the first and third weeks of the month instead of just one; and the start time for trash collection has been eliminated.

Smith said that means residents should have their trash at the curb by no later than midnight the day of pickup. The pickup days remain the same for both Hauto and Nesquehoning.

She added that she understands people are concerned because bears get into the trash, however “bears can’t tell time” and they will come to raid cans whenever they want.

“I could put my garbage out five minutes before the garbage man comes, but I live by the woods so the bear just helps himself if and when he wants to,” she said. “There’s no way to stop the bear.”

Smith added that the new start time, which could be anytime after midnight on pickup days, will hopefully allow for earlier pickups and less chances for bears.

Council also briefly discussed what the new contract will mean for resident trash bills going forward.

Members said that as the budget work begins, they will look at how to allocate funds for the cost and see what needs to be done with resident garbage bills.

“It sounds like a raise in sanitation is not going to be excessive,” said Councilman Bruce Nalesnik. “The initial figures are going to be reasonable.”

“The ultimate goal is to get the price at the most reasonable for the residents,” Smith said, commending Larry Wittig for working with the borough to try to get the most for the residents without increasing the cost more.

Smith added that bills will remain the same as they are now through the end of the year.

Council did not announce just how much it was expecting resident garbage bills to go up next year.

Last year, council attempted to stop sticker shock from the increase in garbage fees it expected by hiking the resident bills by $5 per month, as well as shifting $5 a month from the sewer bills to sanitation.

At that time, then-Councilwoman Abbie Guardiani explained this move would help create a buffer for the expected increase based on what other municipalities had been seeing.

By throwing an additional $10 per month per household into the sanitation fund, Guardiani estimated that the borough would generate $187,000 annually.