A Westchester Supreme Court judge has ruled that a carting company failed to demonstrate that Yorktown improperly awarded a trash hauling contract to its competitor.
Justice Robert J. Prisco ruled on March 18 that AAA Carting and Rubbish Removal Inc. did not established that Yorktown public officials abused their discretion when they awarded a five-year deal to Competitive Carting Corp.
“This litigation was always about a disgruntled businessman who didn’t get his contract renewed,” Yorktown deputy supervisor Ed Lachterman stated in a press release. “It was never about the town board’s process, and I’m happy that the supreme court agrees.”
AAA Carting, Buchanan, held the contract from 2018 through 2022. In 2022, Competitive Carting submitted a bid for a new 5-year contract that was $1.5 million lower than AAA Carting’s bid.
Competitive Carting began hauling Yorktown’s trash in 2023.
AAA Carting petitioned the court to cancel the contract, arguing that Competitive Carting was not the lowest responsible bidder.
AAA Carting claimed that Competitive Carting was unable to handle the work. It was a new company with no experience in municipal garbage collection, for instance. It did not have enough trucks, and owner Brian Amico had filed for personal bankruptcy protection.
Judge Prisco noted that the central purposes of competitive bidding are to obtain the best work at the lowest possible price, and to prevent favoritism, fraud and corruption. For example, a municipality must consider a bidder’s skill and integrity.
Yorktown argued that Amico’s bankruptcy was unrelated to Competitive Carting’s finances; he had held a contract through a related business from 2013 to 2017; and the town verified that the company had trucks and a place to store them.
Moreover, the town claimed that residents had complained about AAA Carting’s performance, including trucks leaking oil and juice, missed collections, and rude employees.
AAA Carting “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,” Justice Prisco concluded.
Competitive Carting, in fact, was unable to handle the work.
Last July, Yorktown issued a default notice for failure to perform essential functions. In August, several trucks were repossessed. On Sept. 1, the company didn’t have enough employees to pick up trash.
Yorktown issued an emergency, one-year no-bid $4.3 million contract to CRP Sanitation, Cortlandt Manor. The contract cost the town about $75,000 more than what AAA Carting had proposed for the emergency, according to court records.
AAA Carting sued Yorktown again, raising many of same issues in the Competitive Carting lawsuit. The new lawsuit is in Justice Prisco’s court.
Yorktown sued Competitive Carting for $3.5 million, charging breach of contract and unjust enrichment. That case also is pending.
