The town of Yorktown fined its garbage hauler, Competitive Carting Corporation, a total of $59,500 after it allegedly violated its contract and failed to properly collect household refuse and recycling during the first week of July, Yorktown officials said on Thursday, July 20.
The fines were announced by Town Supervisor Tom Diana, who said that they would continue if the company continued to not properly collect garbage.
Yorktown officials said that the company's failure to collect garbage after Independence Day was the second such disruption since they began serving Yorktown on Sunday, Jan. 1. The first incident was when the company struggled to collect refuse throughout the month of January, officials added.
The town's refuse and recycling staff is now documenting additional disruptions every weekday at 5 a.m. and driving through collection routes to see how much garbage was not collected. This documentation is crucial for establishing responsible grounds for ending the town's contract with Competitive Carting if needed, according to town officials.
"I understand your frustration…I have it as well. My garbage doesn’t get picked up on time," Diana told residents during a Town Board meeting on Tuesday, July 18.
He continued, "We’re all in the same boat folks, and were working to correct it.”
Yorktown hired Competitive Carting in late 2022 after the town's previous garbage hauler had proposed a $2 million increase to its contract, officials said, adding that they had expected to save taxpayers $1.5 million over the course of the new five-year contract with the company.
Any residents whose garbage has not been collected are asked to call Competitive Carting at 914-477-5865. If they do not respond, residents should then call the Yorktown Refuse & Recycling Department at 914-245-4438.
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