Hauler Challenges Contract Award

It appears the new two-year contract with Sterling Superior Services for single stream curbside collection will begin on schedule Friday, July 1, despite a charge by rival hauler F.E. Crandall Disposal Inc. that the town exhibited favoritism in awarding the contract to Sterling.

Crandall, which is based on Lambtown Road in Ledyard, was the low bidder for the contract when bids were opened in early March. Crandall’s two-year bid was $958,200; Sterling, based in Bozrah, bid $1,019,313, and Mystic-based M.J. Sauchuk bid $1,036,000.

A nine-member ad hoc committee was formed to review the bids. The panel included Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr., Public Works Director Steve Masalin, Finance Director Marcia Hancock, SCRRRA recycling coordinator Winston Averill, SCRRRA president John Phetteplace and four members of the Ledyard Town Council.

In late April, after much discussion and review, the committee voted unanimously to award the contract to Sterling, the second-lowest bidder.  At the time, Town Council member Bill Saums, who served on the ad hoc committee with councilors David Holdridge, Mary McGrattan and Sean Sullivan, said, “we all agreed that this was the best value for the town.”

Crandall saw it differently.

“The town has a history of favoritism toward Sterling and has violated applicable law through its business relationship with Sterling,” Crandall alleged in a request for an injunction filed earlier this month in New London Superior Court.

Crandall is seeking a temporary or permanent injunction ordering the town to award the contract to the lowest bidder, and that any other contract entered into for the 2011 curbside collection be ruled null and void.

An initial hearing was conducted on June 21. It was extended to July 7, one week after the new contract with Sterling would begin.

“My intention is to implement the contract that is signed,” Allyn said this week. “I have not been told to do otherwise.”

Sterling replaced Crandall as the town’s garbage hauler in 2007. According to court documents, Crandall alleged the town improperly extended Sterling’s contract in 2008 through June 30, 2011, agreeing to pay Sterling $24,000 more than was originally stated in the bid. The Ledyard company further claimed that Sterling was not properly bonded at the time the contract was extended.

Town Responds to Claims

On June 16, the town entered a motion to dismiss the case.  Town officials declined to discuss the case pending its resolution.

According to court documents, the ad hoc committee was concerned about Crandall’s “ability to reliably provide the pure waste stream required during the term of the curbside collection contract as Ledyard had begun plans to begin single stream recycling.”

A report reviewed by the committee during its due diligence “indicated a previous tendency on the part of F.E. Crandall to exceed collection limits and a failure to document bulky waste service.”

In addition, the report said, “during the years Sterling serviced Ledyard’s curbside collection, Ledyard saved some $350,000 in tipping fees to the Preston incinerator, compared to when Crandall serviced Ledyard’s curbside collection.”

“Taking all factors into consideration, the committee had strong doubts about the plaintiff’s ability to responsibly and efficiently complete curbside collection for Ledyard, despite the plaintiff having submitted the lowest bid,” Town Attorney Meredith Diette concluded in a letter supporting the motion to dismiss.

Single stream recycling began in Ledyard last year, although residents were required to recycle paper separately. On July 1, under the new contract, residents may begin mixing paper with other single stream recyclables.