Competitive Carting Has Trucks Re-Possessed -Check to Solid Waste Commission Bounces!
By Dan Murphy
The decision by the Town of Yorktown, led by Supervisor Tom Diana, to continue to give the contracted garbage company, Competitive Carting, CC, too many chances to fix their problems has now exploded, with CC having 5 of its trucks repossessed for lack of payment.
Seven trucks are needed to remove the trash and recycling for the 10,000 homes in Yorktown. CC currently has 2 trucks to do the job.
And with the upcoming Labor Day weekend, things will only get worse for the residents and taxpayers of Yorktown, including this reporter’s family. Monday, Sept. 4 is Labor Day, so no trash removal until Tuesday Sept. 5. That is when the trash will hit the fan.
Several months ago, AAA Carting, the previous trash hauler for the town, offered to come in and fix the problem. Instead, the Town Board held a meeting on Aug. 28 in which they backed CC one last time, by offering financial incentives in the form of returning some of the fines the town issued CC, if they could fix their problems.
Documents posted on the Yorktown Trash Talk Facebook page from the Westchester Solid Waste Commission give us some of the bad business details of Competitive Carting and owner Brian Amico.
In Dec. 2022, Brian Amico, the owner of CC, entered into a 5 year agreement with the town.
On Dec. 13, Amico sold 60% of the company to William Boyer Sr.
On Feb. 8, CC was fined for 11 violations by the Solid Waste Commission and fined $22,000.
On April 13, William Boyer Jr. told the Solid Waste Commission that he was a manger for CC
On April 13, Boyer Jr, gave the Solid Waste Commission a check for $22,000 to pay for the fines.
THAT CHECK BOUNCED!
What the timeline shows is that Boyer Sr. has owned Competitive Carting since Dec. 2022. Since he took ownership, the problems continued in collective the garbage and recycling for Yorktown homeowners in a reliable and consistent manner.
There has been no improvement in the garbage collection since Boyer Sr. became principal owner, yet the Town Board has put their trust in CC once again, as recently as Aug. 29.
Questions from residents include:
-How is the garbage going to get picked up after Labor Day?
-Why does the town continue to hope for the best with CC? Some believe it may have to do with two former elected officials. One is a former elected official in Yorktown; the other is a former Putnam County law enforcement and elected official.
-But as the many residents on Yorktown Trash Talk continue to complain, right now, “I just want my garbage and recycling picked up,” is the common refrain. The political blame game will occur in November.
Let us also remember that the decision to hire a new garbage company came under the leadership of former Supervisor Matt Slater, now Assemblyman Matt Slater. Slater has been publicly silent on the issue of garbage removal in Yorktown, but as a homeowner, he must be dealing with the same issues.
But the political decision to continue to stay with CC rests with Supervisor Diana, and the Town Board. And with an election upcoming in November for Supervisor and two seats on the board, residents are shocked that “officials with reelections in November would let this continue.”
The Town of Yorktown fines against CC are: $59,500 for one set of violations for not removing the garbage per the terms of the contract/ and $96,000 for a second set of violations.
That $139,000 in fines has been taken out the check paid to CC and Amico by the Town. So Amico has had to meet his payroll, and pay for gas and repairs for the trucks, etc. with less every month.
CC and Amico are losing money, but now they have a new owner in Bill Boyer Sr. Why did Boyer decide to buy 60% of a company that is losing money?
The Town Board needs to terminate the contract with CC, and re-hire AAA Carting, in time for pickups after Labor Day. Or the Solid Waste Commission needs to take action.
Someone on Trash Talk called this Garbage Gate 2023.
Note: On Aug. 30, Supervisor Diana issued the following statement:
“The garbage debacle continues. Hello Yorktown,
Late last night, I was notified by the Yorktown Police Department that five of our garbage carrier’s trucks were repossessed. We had no warning whatsoever that this could possibly ever happen. Clearly, we are at a breaking point. We are actively exploring all options and are working to correct the situation immediately. If your garbage and recyclables have not been picked up today, they will be picked up make no mistake. Please leave your garbage and or recyclables out. As you can imagine, this is an intolerable situation, and the public has every right to be fed up, as I am along with the entire Town Board. I am committed to keeping you informed about the situation and will have further updates as they become available.
We appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank you, Supervisor Tom Diana.”
A response to Supervisor Diana on behalf of the 1,265 members of Yorktown Trash Talk, most of whom are Yorktown residents, taxpayers and voters. First, you have never taken the time to address the community on this Facebook page, while others, including Town Councilman Sergio Esposito at least engaged in dialogue. We have only heard you complain about the Facebook page.
You start your statement with “The garbage debacle continues,” but it continues because of your unwillingness to admit the mistake made by you and former Supervisor Matt Slater and the Town Board last year in selecting CC without vetting the owners and their past incompetence in the garbage business.
You end your statement with, “We appreciate your patience and understanding.” This is another tone-deaf comment. Most of the homeowners in Yorktown have NO PATIENCE with your waiting, and waiting, to act. Your lack of terminating the contract points to one of two things, according to your own residents: Incompetent leadership, or another reason to make a change for reasons that none of us know.
A comment under your statement reads, “Can we just go back to AAA already??? You or your team clearly didn’t vet the “winning bidder” well enough which led to this situation. Walk it back already.
Hopefully, the garbage will be picked up on September 5.
