Trash hauler County Waste has accused the Town of Colonie of having a closed-door negotiation with Allied Waste, allowing the company to purchase extra tonnage at the landfill for reduced rate, but town officials said the process was handled properly.
`How could it be a backroom deal when everything was done in the open?` said Town Attorney Mike Magguilli. `Those are some pretty serious allegations. They [County Waste] had the opportunity and still have the opportunity to come in now and buy more excess capacity.`
In a letter dated Friday, Jan. 14, the County Waste claimed that Allied Waste was awarded a contract for solid waste disposal at the town’s landfill after it had seen the prices bid during the Request for Proposal Bidding process in March 2010. The minimum each waste company could bid was $50.
Calls to County Waste officials had not been returned as of press time.
After the bidding process ended and County Waste was awarded a contract for $55 per ton for 40,0000 tons and Waste Management was awarded a contract for $53 per ton, the town declared a surplus for sale of 25,000 tons in 2010 and 40,000 tons for 2011 and 2012. The surplus was declared through a Town Board resolution on May 27, in a vote of 6-to-1, with Councilman Dan Dustin dissenting.
On July 29, the town awarded a bid to Allied Waste for a solid waste disposal agreement for the 25,000 tons of surplus, as well as on Jan. 6 of this year for the 40,000-ton surplus at $51 per ton. Both resolutions passed unanimously.
In the letter to the town, Lawrence Schillinger, attorney for County Waste, said the company did not agree with the way business was conducted. Schillinger said the town had always allowed the surplus tonnage to go through a competitive bidding process.
`I specifically recall that during your first year in office, you [Supervisor Paula Mahan] took the initiative to conduct an RFP bidding process for the sale of ‘excess capacity’ at the town landfill,` wrote Schillinger.
He said Allied Waste did not participate in the original bidding process in March.
Jack Cunningham, commissioner of the Division of Public Works, had a different version of events.
`Allied Waste came in at $48 a ton, and we rejected that,` he said. `Because we were only able to guarantee placement of 55,000 tons, and we were really aiming to place about 100,000 tons, I came to the town board and said, ‘I want the board to declare a surplus so we can go out and solicit companies to come in. Because we’re a municipality, we have to do the bid process. But once the bid process was done, then we could go out and start selling the excess.`
Once that occurred, Allied Waste approached the town after its contact for 2010 was up.
`They needed more waste this year,` said Bob Griffin, general manager of Allied Waste. `We had finished up our agreement for last year, and we asked if they were going to need extra waste.`
They then negotiated a contract with the town for $51 per ton in 2011.
Cunningham agreed said there is still room available at the landfill and County Waste could currently bid for a lower amount.
`They still have the opportunity to come back and buy additional tonnage,` he said. `I have additional space up there. If you want to call me, my number is 783-6292. Seriously, if they’re interested in buying more tonnage, we would be happy to take more tonnage in. All they have to do is contact us and we’ll work with them.`
Cunningham added that County Waste had actually purchased additional tonnage lower than the minimum rate a couple of years ago.
The relationship between County Waste and Colonie has been strained in the past year, according to Councilman Dan Hornick, citing an investigation into whether the company lied on its weigh slips.
`There was an Attorney General’s investigation with County Waste, and they had to pay a settlement to the town,` he said. `County Waste was sending in weigh slips with the trucks saying this is what we weighed, only they had to pay what was on that slip and there were some discrepancies.`
Calling himself a proponent of open government, Magguilli said he is `baffled` by the allegations made by County Waste. He said he thinks the company might be confused in thinking the process was done through competitive building.
As the town weathers a harsh economic climate, the additional revenue was certainly welcome, Magguilli said.
`The deal with Allied brought in another $1.2 million in revenue,` he said. `Are we supposed to forgo that in tough times?“
