Like just everybody else in the borough of Atlantic Highlands, Councilman Jon Crowley already knows how sensational and unique the Public Works Department is. But at last Thursday night’s council meeting, Mr. Crowley admitted he now has even more reason to appreciate this hardworking team.
This councilman did what everyone in charge of any employment staff should do. He took the time to spend a good part of the day with the public works team he heads as councilman as they took their garbage truck loaded with two tons of garbage to the Monmouth County Reclamation Center trash area.
That sounds like an easy thing to do, but this councilman found out firsthand that is only one difficult part of a job that takes a lot of toil, strength, determination, even patience. And, as he and everyone else knows, this department does it all.
For openers, Crowley commented on some of the difficult parts of the public works job nobody ever thinks about. That trip to the Reclamation Center, located in Tinton Falls, sitting in a heavy truck loaded with garbage, is not a pleasant ride. There are the bumps, noise and discomfort of that 10 or 15 mile ride, to say nothing of the shock of seeing mountains made of trash once he got there.
At the yard, the trash is piled high, eventually covered with dirt and left to mingle, break down, and form a future mountain. Crowley admitted, with a bit of astonishment, that the mountains are even higher than the highest point on the East Coast from Maine to Florida, right here at our Mount Mitchill. There are 900 acres in the landfill, he said, and it is projected that even that will be completely filled up within five years.
The day Crowley made the trip with the public works team, the truck he was in was one of two from this borough alone that added to the fill. With each carrying about two tons, that’s 4,000 pounds. And our tucks go there with two trucks four times a week! He also learned the center takes in 1500 tons a day! That’s one and a half million pounds of stuff we throw away!
Crowley did not ever mention, since everyone also knows, that those trucks make the trips with all that trash only after the public works employees have ridden around town, a lot of times hanging on the back of the truck, jumped off countless times, crossed streets and picked up garbage cans to empty them in the back of the truck, and move on to the next house, the next street, the next two or three cans to pick up, empty, and put back.
In addition to the four days of two trucks going to the dump with household trash, the Atlantic Highlands Public Works Department also makes a trip a week to the Mazza Recycling Center to drop off all the recycling collected at the borough yard off Ave D. Then they also make another trip to Mazza on Saturdays with bulk dropoffs.
Mr. Crowley conceded that based on the truck ride to the Tinton Falls facility one day alone, he couldn’t do what the DWP workers do for a 40-hour week. But his visit made it clear he certainly appreciates those who do the work and wants everyone else in town to appreciate them as well.
Well said, Councilman. And how fortunate this borough is to have a councilman who now can better understand if they come in with a complaint or a question. And borough residents, armed with a little more knowledge and understanding can appreciate even more the team it has working in Public Works.
