Scranton DPW refuse overtime spikes, mayor acknowledges issues with new route rollout

Jul. 25—SCRANTON — City Department of Public Works refuse overtime spiked this month to more than $40,000 as of Friday, compared to just over $27,000 last month and less than $1,650 in May, Controller John Murray's overtime report shows.

Councilman Tom Schuster raised the issue Tuesday at city council's last caucus and meeting before its August recess. Councilman Mark McAndrew blamed the spike partly on new collection routes stemming from a city contract with Rubicon Global LLC, a firm hired to improve efficiencies by optimizing waste and recycling collections.

"They implemented Rubicon, obviously it didn't work (and) it slowed everything down, so in order to catch up they have to incur overtime," McAndrew said during the caucus.

Reached late Tuesday, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti acknowledged issues with the initial rollout of the Rubicon routes contributed to increased overtime, noting representatives from the firm will visit Scranton next week as officials work to address the challenges. Scranton implemented the Rubicon system for less than a week before temporarily suspending the new routes pending optimization, she said.

"We are embarking on operational changes in refuse that have been needed for decades," Cognetti said. "There are going to be growing pains with that. We are certainly experiencing some growing pains right now as we get to where we need to get to with the new operation, with bringing new technology online and making sure that the refuse department is running as best it can."

A prior council authorized a three-year, $165,227.40 contract with Rubicon in late 2021 for smart waste and recycling technology aimed at improving route efficiency. Despite the issues, Cognetti expressed confidence the system will ultimately benefit the city.

She also attributed increased refuse overtime this summer to Scranton briefly suspending collections in June as smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the city.

Scranton budgeted $175,000 for refuse overtime this year and had spent $136,715.75 as of Friday, the date city employees received their last paycheck in July. That overtime totaled nearly $30,000 in January, the highest of any month except July.

Council will hold a caucus with city and Rubicon officials in September. Members had hoped to hold the caucus prior to the August recess.

HUD plan

Also Tuesday, council adopted previously tabled legislation approving the city's 2023 HUD Action Plan, which outlines proposed uses for about $3.8 million in federal funding allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The money will fund both city and third-party initiatives, projects and programs.

Scranton, for example, will use $260,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding for blight remediation and hazardous property demolitions, among other uses.

Third-party recipients of HUD funding include Catherine McAuley Center, St. Joseph's Center, Catholic Social Services, United Neighborhood Centers, Women's Resource Center, North Penn Legal Services, Scranton Lackawanna Resources Development Corporation (SLRDC) and the Community Intervention Center.

SLRDC, a nonprofit arm of the Agency for Community EmPOWERment of NEPA, will use $20,000 in CDBG funding to repair sidewalks at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Alder Street and make them Americans with Disabilities Act compliant. It's part of a broader project to renovate a blighted building at 601 Prospect Ave. and convert it into housing for up to eight veterans.

Funding for the Community Intervention Center, $25,570, comes from HUD's Emergency Solutions Grant program and will support the nonprofit's day shelter at 445 N. Sixth Ave. It's one of several emergency shelter, homeless prevention or rehousing initiatives to receive federal funding.

St. Joseph's Center will benefit from $20,570 in ESG funding for its Walsh Manor residence, which offers emergency shelter for up to four women during pregnancy, and $25,000 in CDBG money for its Mother/Infant Program, a transitional housing initiative for mothers and babies experiencing homelessness.

"This funding is really important, especially for all of our nonprofit partners who support services in the city," Scranton Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani said of the HUD money. "This is vital to support those programs."

A full list of funding recipients is available through council's online meeting agenda, available at scrantonpa.gov. Council will next meet Sept. 5.

Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT on Twitter.