Crandall Suit Against Ledyard Is Dismissed

A lawsuit alleging the town practiced “favoritism” in April when it awarded a two-year curbside collection contract to Sterling Superior Services of Bozrah was dismissed today in New London Superior Court.

The suit had been brought by F.E. Crandall Disposal Inc. Based in Ledyard, Crandall was the lowest bidder of three companies to bid on the contract.

The Request for Proposal, however, reserved the town’s right to reject any bid in deference to what it felt was the “best value” for the town, based on several criteria. A nine-member ad hoc committee formed to review the bids unanimously voted to award the contract to Sterling.

“The key is ‘best value,’ and we believe we awarded the contract on that basis,” Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr. said in August, when the case first went to court.

Town Councilor Bill Saums, who served on the ad hoc committee, said Judge Robert C. Leuba dismissed the case after Crandall's attorney “failed to show any evidence of fraud, corruption or favoritism” in the town’s decision to award the contract to Sterling.

The new contract, which marked the advent of single stream recycling in Ledyard, became effective July 1.