Necessities
Garbage and recycling

  • On the north side of town garbage is collected every Tuesday and Friday. The south side of town is collected on Monday & Thursday. Your garbage must be at the collection point before 7am. It may be a good idea to put it out the night before if you have a can to place it in.
  • Recycling gets picked up every other Wednesday. Call Borough Superintendent’s Office for the exact dates for your end of town at 610-683-3202, or ask your neighbors until you get the hang of it.
Recycling in Kutztown is bit labor intensive, but if you don’t separate it correctly it will not be picked up. Pick up a complete schedule and list of do’s and don’ts from Borough Hall at 45 Railroad St.
  • Items collected at curbside will be: Newspapers, magazines, computer paper, and cardboard; aluminum cans, glass bottles, and jars, plastic soda bottles, water and milk jugs and detergent bottles.
  • Recycling containers are available for pick-up by Kutztown residents at 105 Railroad St. between 7am and 3:30 pm Mon.-Fri. 55 gallon drums are not acceptable recycling containers. Ask your landlord if there are containers for your use before getting new ones.
  • The containers are labeled. Do not mix your recycling or it will not be collected.
  • Aluminum-Beer and soda cans only.
  • Glass-please rinse and separate by color into individual recycling buckets. No mirrors, ceramic cups or plates, flower pots, crystal, light bulbs, window glass etc. Jars and bottles only!
  • Newspaper-bundle with string. Do not put in plastic bags.
  • Cardboard-Must be flattened.
  • Magazines-Bundled with string.
  • Computer Paper-Bundled separately with string.
  • Mixed Paper-Junk mail, folders, unwaxed food packages, telephone books, school and office papers & clean pizza boxes. Remove any synthetic material (cellophane, staples, plastic, windows on envelopes, carbon paper). Flatten all food packaging, bundle separately with string.
  • Plastic-Remove all caps. Plastic recyclables can be mixed and put in the container of your choice.

Electricity

In the Borough of Kutztown, electricity can be obtained in the name of one person. Arrangements can be made at Borough Hall, 45 Railroad St. A deposit will be needed. The amount of the deposit varies. Call Borough Hall for more info. 610-683-6131. If you live outside the Borough of Kutztown, contact GPU for electricity hookup at 1-800-545-7741 or the borough in which you reside.

Water and sewage

Arrangements can be made at Borough Hall, 45 Railroad St. for Kutztown residents.  No deposit required. Outside the borough you may have private wells and septic systems. Ask your landlord if in doubt.

Gas

U.G.I. Contact in Reading by calling 800-322-4431.

Oil

Provided by various privately owned companies. Check the yellow pages and shop around.

Telephone

For local and regional service call Verizon at 1-800-483-4000 Mon.-Fri. 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., or Hometown Utilicom, at 610-683-6131 Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Both companies provide local service for the Kutztown Area.  There is a basic monthly service charge that will go up with fancier services.  Bills are made payable by mail.

 

For long-distance service there are a variety of companies to choose from.  Three of the more popular options are AT&T at 800-222-3000,  Sprint at 1-800-366-8204.  You have the option of choosing a different long distance carrier.  Check the telephone directory for other companies. 

 

Some long distance services you may want to ask about include:

· Roommate billing - each roommate would be billed separately for long-distance calls

· Call gate - a code used for long-distance calling, no call can be made without the code

 

Cable TV

Contact Hometown Utilicom http://www.hometownu.com/ 610-683-6131 or contact Service Electric at 800-344-0347 Mon. -Fri. 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. or Sat. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.. There are installation fees and monthly service charges. Additional charges for some services.