Jim Thorpe Borough Council awarded a three-year dewatered screening and sewage sludge hauling and landfill disposal contract to JP Mascaro & Sons, at a rate of $185.70 per ton per year for the first three years, with an option to extend for an additional three years at $207.60 per ton per year.

Council members said that opting for a longer-term contract would help stabilize budgeting and protect against potential price hikes.

Al DeGennaro, Mascaro’s deputy general counsel, emphasized the impact of rising costs, roughly 47.5%, since the borough’s last contract.

“Your current price for sludge that went out five years ago was $125.92,” he said. “That was pre-COVID, and I know your price skyrocketed. … There was a reset in the market after COVID. Everything skyrocketed including our cost, labor, insurance, parts, equipment, trucks and health care. I can go on and on.”

He attributed the increases primarily to rising landfill costs and pointed out that current economic factors, including inflation, have kept prices high.

DeGennaro recommended the borough consider a long-term contract, explaining that locking in a multiyear deal would be more cost effective in the long run.

“Prices aren’t going down,” he said. “This sludge service, the biggest component of this cost is the landfill. The fuel is going to be 5 to 10%. Landfill prices have increased significantly since pre-COVID.”

DeGennaro warned that landfills face increased regulatory compliance costs, and the number of available disposal sites is shrinking.

“There are landfills not getting their permits renewed, and as you go forward in future years, there’ll be less and less disposal sites,” he added

Council President Greg Strubinger said the borough holds the option for the additional three years at the end of the contract.

“We can decide whether we want to accept that one year at a time,” he said.