The East Williston Village Board heard presentations from two garbage carting companies during a public hearing at Monday night’s board meeting aimed at sorting out recycling services the two bidders would offer the village.
Port Washington-based Dejana Industries, the low bidder, is the village’s current carting contractor. The other bidder, Westbury-based Meadow Carting, was the village’s carting contractor before Dejana won the contract several years ago.
Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner announced in January that the board had decided to exercise an option in its contract with Dejana to rebid the garbage hauling contract, citing residents’ complaints that Dejana was mixing recyclables.
“We do not mix them. We don’t have any violations for recycling,” Dejana director of business development John Mangano said of the recyclables.
Mangano said he sought to reassure residents his company is careful about separating recyclables. He said his company is willing to exceed the contract specifications and pick up recyclables on a daily basis. It would also continue picking up garbage three times weekly.
He said that while Dejana workers put bags of recyclables in the same collection cans with garbage as they make pickups from individual houses, the recyclables and the garbage are segregated in different bins on the Dejana trucks.
“It’s our responsibility to carry on the trail of recycling. We take it very seriously,” he said.
Mangano said of the 22 written complaints filed by residents with the East Williston board against the company since last March, none of those complaints he received from the board referred to recycling. He said the residents who complained about his company’s recycling practices at village board meetings represented a minority of village residents.
“I think that there was a misperception through a small percentage of the residents who got everybody’s attention,” Mangano said.
“If given the opportunity, Meadow Carting would work hand-in-hand with the village its residents to keep recyclables separate from the garbage,” Core said.
He also said the company would pick up recyclables from each resident’s home once a week.
“Unless the village wants to rebid this, we would follow the bid specs,” he said.
In rebidding, Tanner said Dejana bid $10,000 less than it was paid in the first year of its current contract – $322,752 – while Meadow Carting came in with bid $326,400 for the contract.
The village board had unanimously approved a new three-year contract with Dejana last May, The contract, which was opposed by residents unhappy with the company’s past service, includes two annual renewal options with a 2 percent increase. The company’s current contract is for $332,734 per year, Tanner said, with a $7,000 increase in the second year.
“We would have lost the contract. You have to be a realist here,” said John Mangano, Dejana director of business development and municipal sales, on undercutting its current contract with its bid.
Tanner said the village board decided to reserve decision on awarding the bid after both companies gave their presentations.
East Williston Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente said she thought both company’s presentations were “well received” by residents at the hearing. She was “very impressed” with both presentations and that Mangano had clarified Dejana’s carting practices.
“Dejana did sufficiently explain that they do recycling,” she said.
“Both companies made good presentations. We have a lot to think about,” said village Trustee Robert Vella Jr. “Dejana has been misunderstood. But they have a lot of things to rectify.”
In other developments:
• Village board members are continuing to weigh the village’s options to address the decrepit condition of a house at 8 Sumter Ave. that is in the process of being sold. Vella said at last month’s board meeting that the board learned the property is being sold with the prospective owners in contract. Last night he said the sale depends on the owner obtaining approval to subdivide the property.
Parente said the board would discuss an engineer’s report that specifies costs of demolishing or renovating the house at its agenda meeting next Monday if the deal on the house falls through.
“We are moving ahead. We’re going to meet to discuss those options whether there’s a closing or not,” Vella said.
Village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff had secured permission in Nassau County Supreme Court last year to remedy the condition of the house, which was said to roofless, with raccoons living in it .
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
