Yorktown Officials Address Garbage Pickup Delays

YORKTOWN, NY — Town officials assured residents that a change in garbage-hauling vendors in the new year that has resulted in garbage pickup delays for some residents should be corrected by next week.

“Any time there is a change in vendors, as took place in Yorktown this week, there is a transition period,” Yorktown Town Supervisor Tom Diana said in a news release. “We are aware that there have been some glitches and I want to assure our residents that we are on it. We are in full contact with the new carter and they are catching up on all pickups and we are confident that in the coming days the entire pickup and recycling process will be smoothed out. We are on it.

In October the Town Board awarded a new garbage contract after the previous vendor sought a significantly higher bid, officials said.

Yorktown issued four rounds of requests for bids to reduce garbage-collection costs.

A new five-year contract was awarded to Competitive Carting, the lowest responsible bidder.

Competitive Carting’s proposal came in $600,000 lower than bids from previous rounds that would have reduced garbage pickups to once a week, officials said.

The Town will pay Competitive $3.5 million in 2023. The new contract will save taxpayers $1.5 million in the first five years and up to $2.5 million in savings if the Town opts to renew each of the one-year renewals to 2027.

Competitive Carting is a family-owned company based in Mahopac. It provides both residential and commercial garbage and waste removal services, and holds garbage removal contracts communities in northern Westchester and southern Putnam counties, officials said.

"We understand the confusion that results when normal routines are broken, and we apologize for the inconveniences many have experienced," Diana said. "The Christmas and New Year’s holidays just a week apart require adjustments in pickup and schedules. The double holiday adjustments were compounded by having the new carter take over January 1. With the regular five-day schedule resuming this week, we fully expect the collection process to smooth out."