A Walnutport woman has expressed her dissatisfaction with yard waste collection.

Tina George, who lives on Oak Street, said that despite a $160 a year increase in the borough’s garbage rates, she still can’t get rid of her yard waste.

Councilwoman Jen Wentz said that’s because the landfills no longer accept yard waste.

George asked if she could have her property eliminated from the waste hauler’s contract that’s in place now.

However, Wentz said that would be a violation of the ordinance.

Borough solicitor Michael Corriere told George that every resident has to pay; otherwise, it won’t work.

Councilwoman Patrice Hunsicker told George she goes to the dump twice a week.

George said that in her particular case, the problem is that she has to physically haul her garbage away.

Public Works Supervisor Mike Wentz said starting next year no haulers will take yard waste.

“This is not good; the older I get, the harder it’s going to be,” George said. “I don’t think it’s fair to anybody.”

Mike Wentz told George the borough is in the same boat as neighboring Slatington Borough and Washington Township.

“It’s unfortunate,” Mike Wentz said. “They made the changes, (and) now we’re stuck with it.”

Jen Wentz said she understood the concerns.

“I pay it, too, so do a lot of other people in the borough,” Jen Wentz said. “It is not something we (as a borough) are not aware of.”

Another resident said it’s a big expense on a fixed income.

In October, borough council awarded a four-year contract to Casella in the amount of $1,361,771 from 2025-28.

The contract means residents pay between $150 and $160 more per year in their garbage rates.

The contract has both garbage and recycling each week over the course of the four-year contract.

Casella’s bid was $624,253 less than the $1,986,024 proposal from J.P. Mascaro & Sons.

Last September, council agreed to reject the bids it received from the same two companies for garbage collection. Council then re-advertised for bids.

At that time, Casella turned in the apparent low bid of $1,361,770.

However, Corriere noted at that time that Casella’s proposal was defective because it only included the monthly amount per year and not the yearly total, which was required.

Council previously awarded a four-year contract to County Waste for $695,640 from 2021-24.

Jen Wentz previously said the quotes were a combination of collection and transporting, yearly landfill solid waste disposal cost and recyclables.