Judge Rules In Yorktown's Favor In Garbage Vendor Lawsuit

YORKTOWN, NY — A lawsuit against the town of Yorktown over whether the awarding of a refuse-collecting contract was legal was ruled in the town’s favor.

The state Supreme Court said that Yorktown officials acted legally in 2022 when they voted on an annual garbage contract.

Justice Robert J. Prisco said that AAA Carting and Rubbish Removal Inc. failed to demonstrate that the Town Board’s award of a contract to Competitive Carting was improper.

“As Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that the award of the Public Contract to Respondent Competitive Carting was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, in violation of a lawful procedure or affected by an error of law, the Verified Petition is denied,” Prisco wrote.

Deputy Supervisor Ed Lachterman, who was a defendant in the lawsuit because he was on the board at the time, said that the town issued four rounds of requests for bids in 2022 as part of its efforts to keep garbage collection affordable for the taxpayers.

“This litigation was always about a disgruntled businessman who didn’t get his contract renewed,” he said. “It was never about the Town Board’s process, and I’m happy that the Supreme Court agrees.”

Both AAA and Competitive Carting submitted bids in late 2022 for garbage removal.

The Town Board voted to give a five-year contract to Competitive Carting, which at the time was the lowest responsible bidder.

AAA, which was the town’s garbage hauler from 2018 to 2022, filed a petition with the court to annul the Town Board’s decision. The company argued that Competitive Carting was not the lowest bidder and that the board abused its discretion and violated town law, among other allegations.

When the town began the bidding process for a new garbage contractor in early 2022, officials said the first bid would have doubled the contract from $2 million to $4 million. That bid was rejected, and the town received more proposals that included reducing garbage pickup to once a week.

Competitive Carting was not a successful vendor, however. Once the contract was awarded, the company failed to fulfill its obligations.

The Town Board canceled its contract after the company left uncollected garbage on the streets because its trucks had been repossessed.

In September, the town awarded CRP Carting a contract to collect garbage.

SEE ALSO:

• Yorktown Board Fires 1 Garbage Collector, Hires Another
• New Garbage Collector To Be Chosen In Yorktown
• Yorktown Arranges For 5 Replacement Garbage Trucks
• Yorktown’s Garbage Contractor Has 5 Trucks Repossessed
• Yorktown Chooses New Garbage Collection Service
• Yorktown Says Problems With Garbage Collection Are Resolved
• Yorktown Threatens Refuse Contractor With Fines, Contract Termination
• Yorktown Giving Garbage Contractor More Time To Fix Problem
• Yorktown Fines Garbage Contractor For Collection Failure