$15,000 savings; Trash, recycling contract renewed.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Patricia J. James

NORTHBORO - Selectmen last night voted to renew the town's contract for curbside collection of trash and recyclables with Pellegrino Trucking Co. Inc. of Shrewsbury.

The town's three-year contract with the company was to end in just under a year. The new contract will end in 2010.

Town Administrator Barry M. Brenner said that under the last contract, there would have been a 5 percent cost increase for the current fiscal year. Instead, Pellegrino proposed a 2-1/2 percent increase for the current fiscal year and for each of the next two years if the town extended the contract. This results in a $15,000 savings for the town in the fiscal 2008 budget, he said.

Selectmen voted 4-1 to approve the new contract, with Chairman William J. Pantazis opposed. Mr. Pantazis said he did not want to be locked in for three more years in case a Solid Waste Citizens Study Group that should be formed in the coming months decides the town should pursue other options.

The board voted to establish the seven-member group at a meeting last month. Last night, the board agreed on the scope and charge of the Solid Waste Citizens Study Group, which will analyze the town's pay-as-you-throw trash program as well as any alternatives from the perspectives of cost effectiveness, environmental responsibility and user friendliness.

The pay-as-you-throw system, in which residents pay for bags to cover collection costs, was started in January 2003 and was intended to pay for itself, but it has seen shortfalls. Last fall, selectmen were told that the program...