This file photo shows a pile of Wilkes-Barre City’s large blue garbage bags. Mayor George Brown asked council at a council work session Tuesday to make the city’s temporary change to a sticker system a permanent one.
Times Leader file photo
Mayor asks council to make transition from city-approved trash bags permanent
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Wilkes-Barre City mayor George Brown addresses city council at Tuesday night’s work session.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Mayor George Brown wants to stick with stickers.
Brown on Tuesday officially brought before council a proposal to make the city’s switch from blue bags to a sticker system a permanent one, presenting lawmakers with the idea at council’s work session.
It was in February of 2022 that the change from bags to stickers was first made on a temporary basis. The reasons cited at the time revolved around production shortages and supply issues with the large blue bags normally used for garbage collection.
The mayor echoed these issues when addressing council on Tuesday.
“We can’t get a sufficient amount of the large blue bags to take care of the city’s needs,” Brown said. “I’ve received positive feedback for the stickers.”
The stickers cost $2, same as the large blue bags, and could be purchased anywhere that the blue bags could be purchased, according to Brown.
Brown also noted that the switch would be a cost-effective one for the city, and that the option to use the smaller blue bags made available by the city would still be there.
Councilman John Marconi was first to provide feedback, noting that his primary concern when the switch was first made last year was the possibility of people overloading their own bags or using heavy-duty bags designed to carry more weight, which would cause a problem for the city’s DPW workers.
Brown said that he had heard of no such issues with overloaded bags.
Council chair Mike Belusko said that he had also received positive feedback about the city’s switch to stickers.
“The sticker system seems to work, it’s been working out,” he said after the meeting. “We’ve always had issues with getting the bags.”
The proposal is expected to be put to a vote on Thursday at council’s regular meeting, and both Belusko and Brown said after the meeting that they expected the proposal to pass, and the sticker system to become permanent.
Traffic signals, zoning reappointment
Also brought before council Tuesday by the mayor was a resolution for Brown and City Administrator Charlie McCormick to sign an agreement with PennDOT to perform maintenance on a number of traffic signals throughout the city.
The intersections mentioned by Brown during the work session were:
• Hazle Street and Park Avenue;
• Park Avenue and South Street;
• Spring Street and Pine Street;
• Hazle Street and Blackman Street; and
• Carey Avenue and Old River Road.
There’s no scheduled start date on this maintenance to be performed, if council votes on and authorizes the agreement.
The mayor also asked council to reappoint Jerry Altavilla to the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, as his term expired on Tuesday.
