You may have seen this article in Tuesday's Asbury Park Press: Middletown: Republic Services sues township over $21.7M trash deal. It's about the lawsuit that Republic Services has going against Middletown concerning the new garbage contract that was give to Central Jersey Waste and Recycling.
The matter involves the lucrative town-wide garbage collection contract that takes effect on January 1st. The township was sued by Republic, who lost the contract award to Central Jersey Waste and Recycling. The bids were close. Republic is claiming that Central Jersey's bid was materially deficient, lacked a proper insurance certificate and bin warranty documentation and that discussion of the contract and bids occurred improperly in closed session both before and after bids were received.
Republic claims that early township committee discussions, prior to issuing the bid specifications, did not constitute contract negotiations and did not qualify for closed session discussion. These early discussions, Republic claims, instead concerned a policy decision to dissolve the garbage district and move toward town-wide pickup. Republic also claims that the mere selection of a low bid in line with the LPCL does not constitute a negotiation.
Central Jersey's lack of warranty documentation for carts, or more specifically, proof that the township would be covered by a 10-year warranty, is pertinent because the carts have value and would become the property of the township after the 5-year collection contract expires.
Another interesting issue is that the township's RFB (Request for Bids) sought bids for several service options, like solid waste collection only, solid waste and recycling, etc. The complaint notes that Republic's bid for one option was at least a million dollars lower than Central Jersey's. For the service option chosen by the township, Republic's bid was just $20K per year (about a dollar per year per household) more than Central Jersey's.
An interesting question is whether Republic's bid for the service option NOT chosen would have benefited residents, that is, does that bid reflect a savings over the current cost for those services? In general, the whole matter raises questions about how the township arrived at its decision.
The two sides are due in court tomorrow, Friday, December 1st.
Hopefully, this case will be rectified soon before it costs the Middletown taxpayers more than if it would have just awarded the contract to Republic in the first place. Talking to a couple of lawyer friends, this case has probably already cost taxpayers over $50K and could easily skyrocket.
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11/30/17 - 7:30pm
The case hearing is now tentatively scheduled for Wed, Dec. 13 at 1:30 PM. It seems that Dec.1st is the date for returning documents to the court.
