AREA NEWSThe Northern Westchester Examiner

New Garbage Hauler in Yorktown Littered with Questions

Rick Pezzullo
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More eyebrows were raised last week about Yorktown’s controversial choice to pick up the town’s garbage starting January 1.

C.R.P. Sanitation of Cortlandt, which has been Yorktown’s trash hauler for the last seven years, filed an amendment to its previously submitted legal papers in state Supreme Court questioning the apparent change of management for Competition Carting, which outbid C.R.P. for the town’s services.

In fact, attorney David Wright alleged in court papers a “shell game” was being played with Brian Amico, owner of Competition Carting, being a public front for a company called Frontline Waste Management Corporation, led by Joseph Spiezio III, a former high-profile developer in Yonkers with an apparent history of legal disputes and financial troubles.

In a November 27 letter to the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission, Amico stated Spiezio had been appointed as chairman of the board for Frontline Waste Management, d/b/a Competition Carting, and was currently licensed under the entity R&S Waste Services, LLC.

“As has been discovered within the past few days, it appears that R&S, a company with a checkered background, may have been using Mr. Amico to avoid disclosing its involvement,” Wright alleged. “Involved in litigation elsewhere, and with other problems throughout the county, R&S might not have survived the admittedly minimal vetting process inYorktown.”

“Thus, the town was shown the innocent ‘local boy’ Mr. Amico, who lives in his mom’s house here, and just wants a chance to break into the business. Meanwhile, he was actually a stalking horse for the undisclosed Spiezio, a person accused of breaching contracts and unethical business practices,” Wright charged.

In its earlier legal papers, C.R.P. stated the town board’s October 23 unanimous decision to choose the nearly $2.5 million bid of Competition Carting over its $2,986,740 bid was “arbitrary and capricious” and “may pose a public health risk to the citizens ofYorktown.”

C.R.P. also claimed Competition Carting was ill-equipped to serveYorktown’s 10,000 customers with only five trucks and four employees. C.R.P. uses 10 trucks and 19 employees to pick up the town’s garbage twice a week. When criticized about his lack of experience at a meeting in October, Amico responded, “We’re not talking about brain surgery here. We’re talking about garbage.”

The Competition Carting management change got the attention of Councilman Nick Bianco, who said the town board was inviting Spiezio to a work session this Tuesday at Town Hall.

“Let’s meet the gentleman, see what’s going on and see what his management style is,” Bianco said.

Bruce Fiorito, a town resident, criticized the board’s decision to dump a company like C.R.P. with a proven record of performance in favor of a relatively untested entity.

“Let’s not roll the dice. We’re not Atlantic City, we’re Yorktown,” Fiorito remarked. “You had a company that had done a great job. This new company didn’t even start the job and he sold the business already. If this guy doesn’t do the job, who picks up the tab?”

Supervisor Michael Grace, touting the town’s $800,000 in savings in garbage fees next year, defended the town board’s actions, explaining the bid specifications were designed to allow a smaller company like Competition Carting to go toe-to-toe with more established companies.

“We took a risk. We put ourselves out there. We think we’re in pretty good shape. Hopefully we are,” Grace said. “Hopefully he can do the job. I guarantee you your garbage will be picked up.”

 

 

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