For the first time in 10 years, Northampton Borough residents will have a new trash hauler picking up refuse from their homes, beginning January 2021. The contract with Advanced Disposal is set to expire Dec. 31, and, by contract bidding, a new hauler has been chosen by borough council.

Republic Services, which now includes the former Raritan Valley Disposal based in New Jersey, is the new trash hauler for the borough. Council awarded a $5.3 million contract to pick up garbage from residential properties once a week for the next five years. The other bidders were Advanced Disposal, Grand Central Sanitation and J.P. Mascaro & Sons. The bids reportedly ranged from the low $5.3 million submission from Republic Services to more than $6 million by J.P. Mascaro & Sons.

There will be once-a-week garbage pickup. Residents will also have recycling material picked up, as has been the practice for years, on a regular basis. Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst indicated property owners will receive their 2021 garbage bills in January 2021. The bills will be paid to the borough, not to the garbage hauler. There will be a discounted amount for seniors.

The matter of dumpster fees involving cemeteries in the borough would be a council issue to be taken up separately, should they be required to pay a fee. Up until now, the cemeteries have not been charged a fee. The cemeteries are Allen Union, Fairview Cemetery, St. John’s Ukrainian Church and Queenship of Mary.

In other news discussed at the meeting, the 10th annual Tucker’s Toy Run is scheduled for Nov. 7. The event begins 10 a.m. and ends 8 p.m. The event kicks off at Tri-Boro Sportsmen Club, where presents are loaded and escorted by motorcyclists for pediatric patients of St. Luke’s University Health Network. The presents are delivered to St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill.

For more information, visit eventbrite.com/e/tuckers-toy-run-and-motorcyclemoney-raffle-tickets-109657498530.

With Veterans Day approaching Nov. 11, the howitzer cannon is expected to be moved shortly to its new site at the borough’s memorial plaza on Washington Avenue. The cannon had been located for decades at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4714 quarters until the Post moved to a new location due to the sale of the building at Main Street and Laubach Avenue. The howitzer is currently being stored on the sewer plant grounds.