Yorktown Takes Risk With New Garbage Hauler
Tempers flared and accusations were launched in Yorktown Town Hall last week as the town board awarded a disputed contract for garbage hauling services to a new company with limited experience and equipment.
As of January 1, Competition Carting, which currently has five trucks and four employees, will be responsible for picking up the trash of 10,000 customers in Yorktown, replacing C.R.P. Sanitation, which for the last seven years has utilized 10 trucks and 19 employees to serve the town with virtually flawless results.
“We had no issue with the present hauler. He’s a very reputable, long standing contractor in town. We figured we would give this a shot and see what would come back and that’s our responsibility to our taxpayers,” said Supervisor Michael Grace. “A lot of our good faith is tied up with the new guy. Our hides are now in this game. We run a lot of risks. We are hoping.”
Earlier this year, the town board changed the requirements to allow more companies to bid on the garbage contract. Yorktown had mandated a company needed 10 years experience in refuse collection and its employees at least five years. It also preferred the contractor had dealt with municipalities.
With those specifications relaxed, Competition Carting, which owner Brian Amico said picks up garbage in Putnam Valley, was able to make a bid, and its $2.49 million offer was lower than C.R.P., which bid $3 million, $500,000 less than its existing contract with Yorktown.
Amico, 39, said he planned to purchase three more trucks and hire eight additional employees to tackle Yorktown’s trash.
“We’re not talking about brain surgery here. We’re talking about garbage,” said Amico, whose remarks drew hisses and groans from C.R.P. workers and their supporters. “I don’t have the same overhead as C.R.P. It allows me to do my routes cheaper. I have a vested interest in this town. I’ve lived here my whole life. If I miss a stop, it’s a friend that I miss, somebody’s mother.”
Councilman Nick Bianco grilled Amico about his qualifications, noting the board was looking for the lowest “responsible” bidder.
“We have 10,000 residents that want their garbage picked up next year. I want to know you have the financial capabilities to do the job,” Bianco said. “I’m not satisfied.”
Grace repeatedly insisted the town board changed the bid specifications to attract start-up companies like Competition Carting.
“We intentionally did this,” Grace conceded. “We bid this with the absolute intent to have a start-up company.”
Councilman Dave Paganelli disagreed with Grace, saying “We weren’t targeting start-ups. It’s not like giving out a hot dog contract on Route 129.”
In a memorandum to the town board, Ronald Carbone of C.R.P., which has more than 570 employees, urged officials of the dangers of awarding a bid to an unqualified contractor.
“Our concern is that the current bidding process compromises the final result, creating financial, operational and legal risks for the town,” Carbone stated. “As you know, C.R.P. Sanitation was the winning bidder when standard municipal bidding practices were used. Changing the bidding process does not remove ‘restrictions,’ it introduces loopholes and inequities which result in greater long term costs and risks.”
After going into an executive session, the town board emerged and voted unanimously to award the two-year contract, which can be rebid after one year, to Competitive Carting. Bianco said the board was advised by legal counsel it had no other choice.
“I’m not comfortable with this,” Bianco said, adding voting to change the requirements for bidders was a mistake on his part. “I hope that he does succeed. If he doesn’t, we have a major problem in Yorktown.”
“He has to be ready January 1. If not, we may fall back to C.R.P.,” Grace said. “We got a lot of heat because there will be a change in who picks up the garbage. There’s a lot of fear and a lot of innuendos. There’s no legal basis to reject the bid. Sometimes there’s just a lot of lousy decisions to make.”
Barbara Cummaro, a 34-year town resident, said something didn’t smell right about the awarding of the bid to Competitive Carting.
“This is a fixed bid. This man is not qualified,” Cummaro contended. “This is a quality of life issue. It could be a health issue if the garbage isn’t picked up.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
