62°
NORWALK, Conn. – Suspicions over the pre-ordained nature of a Norwalk garbage collecting contract erupted into hostilities Tuesday night, as one common council member used the phrase "pay to play," prompting other council members to say they felt insulted.
The council's public works committee voted to recommend that the full council authorize Mayor Richard Moccia to execute a 10-year contract with City Carting for city-wide municipal waste collection, otherwise known as privatizing or outsourcing the city's garbage collection.
The committee also recommended that City Carting's contract for recycling be extended to June 30, 2023, and amended to include "single-stream recycling" next year. City Carting's contract regarding the transfer station will also be lengthened to June 30, 2023.
"A reasonable person could conclude that City Carting is going to have a monopoly," Council member David Watts said. "That to me is very scary, to have one company with that much control and influence over the city."
City Carting competed with Finocchio Brothers for the contract and was selected by a panel that included both a Republican and a Democratic Common Council member. Members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2405 were invited to submit a bid but declined.
Common Council member Bruce Kimmel (D-District D), a member of the panel, said that he had been a union member for 25 years and would have favored "the incumbents" and was sad that Local 2405 did not present a bid.
City Carting got the nod because it offered to provide single-stream recycling, according to Norwalk Department of Public Works Director Hal Alvord, another member of the panel. Both Finnochio and City Carting submitted value-added proposals during the negotiating process.
Milton Giddeons, president of Local 2405, said the length of the contract was proof of malfeasance. "We don't even get a 10-year contract so there's some funny business going on," he said.
But Management and Budget Director Bob Barron said the length of the contract justifies City Carting's investment in it, as the company must buy expensive trucks. He also said that the contract would prevent City Carting from raising prices.
Alvord said the market for recyclables is volatile and the contract locks prices in, protecting the city. "Glass is almost impossible to sell (now), yet we're getting paid for it," he said.
He also said the city has the right to reopen the contract and renegotiate "if things happen in the industry."
Diane Lauricella, an environmental consultant, spoke and asked the committee to reconsider. "Separate these three contracts," she said. "They should not be rolled together."
The "stench" coming from City Carting's Meadow Street facility was on the mind of Margaret Farnsworth, a Harbor View resident. "Odor is not a strong enough word," she said, adding that it is "overwhelming."
Council member David McCarthy (R-District E), chairperson of the committee, disputed Farnsworth’s claim. He said he had gone and done his own smell test, discovering that it was bad in the parking lot, but across the street it was unnoticeable. Alvord said the city received its first complaint of the year about the smell Tuesday.
Watts, a vocal opponent of outsourcing, said the process to choose City Carting "didn't pass the smell test." He said that in the process of campaigning, he and other council members found that the public is against outsourcing and thought the selection of City Carting was a done deal.
Although a Democrat was on the panel, the Democratic caucus was not, he said. He wondered why McCarthy chose Kimmel, who does not caucus with the Democrats, and why McCarthy didn't make the deliberations more public.
McCarthy said he had first offered the seat on the panel to John Igneri (D-District E), who declined – this was confirmed by Igneri. McCarthy said that council members do not typically take part in the negotiation of a city contract.
McCarthy, Igneri, Kimmel and Council member Jerry Petrini (R-District D) said they were offended by Watts' use of the term "pay to play," as he was saying they were taking bribes or kickbacks.
"It appears to me that one company has a monopoly and I'm just hoping we don't pass this because there's some real concerns out there," Watts said. "I'm not attacking anybody's character when I use the words pay to play. I'm not accusing you guys. I'm just saying the public has some concerns with City Carting."
Comments (51)
To the Norwalk Daily Voice:
At this point I am compelled to say that the comments in your online newspaper have reached an all-time low. Obviously, there are patterns that link comments with political motives. While one can appreciate this genre of response, it simply is not appropriate to provide an open door to unfounded attacks on one’s credibility. The attacks on Bruce Kimmel, following his letter in your opinion section, deserve scrutiny. Dark humor and the misalignment between fact and fantasy is not credible text for news-searching readers. What is credible, however, is the possibility that consistently damaging and libelous comments are actually made by individuals who hold public office. This, in and of itself, is headline news. I would suggest weighing this out, regardless of your privacy policy, before you may be asked to reveal these individuals legally.
Lots of interesting comments on this issue. A few facts, however, might add to the discussion. First of all, the numbers were all vetted by the city's finance department -- a department that seems to have been trusted by all members of the Common Council on just about every other issue. Secondly, if the books had been cooked, the representatives from the losing bidder, Finocchio, would have questioned them during the presentations and the negotiations.Thirdly, we virtually begged the union to offer a proposal, and many council members, me included, would have done all we could to make sure they were the winning bidder. Fourthly, solid waste disposal was costing the city roughly $1.8 million a year, according to the city's finance department, and we will be able to cut those costs in half, thus saving taxpayers lots of money over the next 10 years -- and without anyone losing their job. Also, the contract with City Carting locks in costs, and thus ensures certain revenue levels, for the next 10 years.That contract also has a number of openers that protect the city should the economic environment change drastically.
I do not like outsourcing, but the city was not able to negotiate any changes in the existing contract, a contract that was too expensive. We went through mediation with no success; thus, we were forced into binding arbitration, where the union had to lose because it did not bother to counter the city's proposal, nor did it present an alternative proposal. As far as I know, the union did not present a single idea on cutting costs in sanitation. While the local was announcing that it had philosophical differences on outsourcing, and thus would not even present an RFP, the city was desperately trying not to lay off more than 20 teachers. Over the course of this contract, the city -- according to our finance department -- stands to save more than $10 million just on solid waste disposal. I cannot walk away from those kinds of savings, regardless of how I feel about outsourcing.
Mr. Kimmel,
You have become the face of outsourcing and you should be ashamed. You are a turncoat, union buster and you should resign from office. Your actions are only second to the burning of Norwalk and people should never vote for you again. This is nothing more than an attack on the middle class and you are simply out of touch. As a parent, I was happy when you quit the BOE, now you back on the council to destroy the middle class.
These workers will be receiving a pay cut and you know that!
@rickibobbi
It's interesting to hear you using the exact same language and writing style as hawkeye, another commenter on these pages who effectively admitted to being Councilman David Watts.
The comment by Addonaise above is very perceptive.
and this is coming from you the one string banjo for the administration
Funny
Iwitherspoon (and others)
For the sceptics with doubts about organized crime in the garabage business in CT. just google that subject and read some of the stories that come up. I found one that starts with "Five Families of NY" most interesting because it is recent and talks about raids on several companies in January of 2011. The companies are not named, but it is certainly a fair question to ask if City Carting was raided again.
so very true..Can the state PD do background on these companies before contracts are signed?
re anonomous replies .........
fquitel
@Old Timer
If you don't believe Hal Alvord's numbers about savings, how about coming up with hard numbers of your own which dispute them? Sorry but it seems like every argument you make about outsourcing involves murky insinuations of corruption, illegality, or guesses at peoples' motives, which simply muddies the water without proving anything. That combined with your well-documented antipathy towards the City administration, as well as the fact that you are a retired officer of the AFSCME Union, makes me think that you're more concerned about the Union, and slinging mud against political enemies, than about an honest and objective assessment of what's best for taxpayers here. That said, I hope you'll come up with some hard facts which disprove the Colonel's numbers. If you do, I'll join you in opposing outsourcing.
Since you will probably continue claiming that this is all the result of corruption... can you explain how all the elected officials and city employees involved in this process were corrupted? Democrat Bruce Kimmel, who opposed outsourcing when it was first brought up but is now in favor, is he corrupt too? The City Purchasing Department and Counsel? Where is the smoking gun? By your standard anybody in favor of outsourcing is in the bag for City Carting. Should I also assume that anybody opposing outsourcing is in the bag for the Union? There is a long history of illegality and corruption involving Unions, yet we still allow them to negotiate with the City. Certainly nobody is leveling the sort of sleazy, unfounded allegations against Unions that you have been repeating for months against people who support outsourcing.
When the issue first came up, and nobody had studied the issue, there seemed to be some reasonable objections that warranted further investigation. But now that a committee has evaluated relevant concerns, the opposition to outsourcing seems to be grasping at straws. One recent accusation was that nobody from the Common Council's Democratic caucus was included in the committee that evaluated the bids. Then it emerged that John Igneri HAD been invited, but declined to participate, which led to Bruce Kimmel being invited.
Lastly, a Union rep recently remarked that the Union was insulted by the invitation to place a bid of their own for garbage collection, and decided not to because they somehow divined that the administration was not serious about engaging them on the issue of ways to save money. As a taxpayer, this is particularly galling. It's a fact that during the last contract negotiation with the AFSCME, the City proposed a number of measures that would have saved money for the City, aka taxpayers. The Union rejected all of them, and sent the contract to arbitration. This led to a decision that awarded raises to Union members but also gave the City the right to outsource garbage collection if doing so would save money. So in the end, which is the party that wasn't willing to compromise to save money for taxpayers? It seems to me that the Union has overreached by acting in a greedy and inflexible manner, and now rather than compete to offer a plan with cost savings for taxpayers, their strategy is to allege that the process is unfair and corrupt, without providing any proof or even a serious critique of the plan on the table.
@Paige
I wasn't at the meeting either, but if the past is any indicator, I'm inclined to believe that Councilman Watts made a series of ungrammatical and self-contradictory statements, insinuations of criminal behavior, petty insults, and other remarks seeking to protect the Municipal Employee Union at any cost, at the expense of taxpayers.
Hard numbers of my own ? You want me to divine the contents of the contracts Alvord speaks so highly of, without access to them ? You also want me to divine the actual cost of not outsourcing, taking into account what agreements may be reached in current contract negotiations ? Then you want me to calculate what the real savings may be ? Alvord is using numbers that include other projected savings, beyond outsourcing, and it sounds to some that the entire 1.7 million a year average is the result of outsourcing. That presentation has won some who opposed outsourcing to change their view, based on misleading numbers.
There is nothing murky in what I have said about property rights schemes. Read up on the story about James Galante and others convicted of racketeering in the garbage business, and you will have a better understanding of why ten respondents to the RFP and only one serious bid strongly suggest a property rights plan at work. The choice now is to play along or put out another RFP.
A Stamford Advocate reporter named Dolan won a Pulitzer prize for a series he wrote on organized crime in the garbage business years ago. Dolan went on to be a speech writer for president Reagan.
Dolan's story was mostly about companies working in Stamford. Nothing has changed much, in my opinion. There is at least one person playing a prominent role at City Carting who's name had to be removed before Westchester county awarded a big contract to City Carting. NY state requires a good faith effort to screen vendors for organized crime connections. A similar law was proposed in CT, but never passed.
You and I may never agree, but that is fine with me. At least we can agree the council cannot make an informed decision without all the facts. Voting on nothing more than a presentation by the Colonel would be a reckless dereliction of their responsibilies.
You have the nerve to tell me, and anyone reading your drivel, what I will "probably" do, and then criticise me for not presenting proof of everything I say here. Your detractors may be right about you.
Lwitherspoon,
I did attend the meeting and the republicans pulled the same trick on others when they do not want to answer a question. Mr. McCarthy should not call anyone rude, we all saw the video where he drove around filming some dudes house and car. However, he was not done, Mr. McCarthy then walked the dog and filmed some dudes house and car. Now, that is some bizarre behavior!
Mr. Bondi attacked a member of audience with a wild allegation.
The tone of this meeting changed when one of the council members got upset this same dude called Mr. Watts an A#$hole in the hallway.
Mr. Kimmel has joined forced with the republicans to sellout the public and to me he was never a real democrat just a tool. Moreover,Mr. Kimmel is not a very good councilman and he should resign from office.
rickybobbi
Do not be pulled into witherspoon games as he is a paid one string banjo for the administration or in other woes a puppet..Your posts are 100 percent correct and fact filled. On the other hand witherspoon never once provides any true facts and will ask other for facts and when presented with these facts ask for still more facts.
He is a $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ stooge. He will of course deny this but this is his job.
Tim T,
Thanks for the heads ups!
@rickybobbi
I agree that Mr. McCarthy should not have filmed while driving. But what "trick" are you talking about?
Exactly how is the public being sold out here?
All I see is David Watts playing his usual games, once again putting on a Union T-shirt so that everybody knows that his first priority is the Union, rather than the taxpayers he was elected to represent.
lwitherspoon,
McCarthy should be nominated for a raspberry award, for the video of him driving around filming someones home and car. The video is full of weirdo stuff and to call someone rude after that video just shows what a hypocrite!
Do you think members of the public should be attacked?
Mr. Kimmel has joined the republicans to destroy the middle class and I am just shocked at his actions. I learned something from that night, with demo-RATS like Mr. Kimmel who needs republicans. What a turncoat?
Mr. Kimmel has failed the public and should resign from office.
To state that Bruce Kimmel is out to destroy the middle class is silly . He IS the middle class. You may not agree with the way he votes but Mr Kimmel is a dedicated public servant who votes in the way he believes best serves the community he represents.
@rickybobbi
It seems that you are overly wrapped up in who is a Democrat and who is a Republican, and what Republican said what to which Democrat. News Flash: The voters don't care!
You sound a lot like a certain member of Common Council who focuses on playing partisan games and protecting Employees Unions, rather than doing what's best for Norwalk taxpayers by getting us a slightly better deal on services than we have now.
I don't agree with Bruce Kimmel on everything, but I admire him for his independence as well as the many times that he has explained his position on complicated public issues with a thoughtful statement on these pages. We would be lucky to have more Common Council members like Bruce Kimmel, and fewer partisan bloviators like David Watts and Matt Miklave.
How exactly will saving taxpayers more than $1 million per year destroy the middle class? Nearly all taxpayers are middle class, I would think they'll be happy that the City is saving money.
lwitherspoon,
Mr. Kimmel is a flip-flopper at best and worst at turncoat! I have known Councilman Miklave for years, he is a real democrat and a smart man. Maybe, these two clowns (McCarthy and Kimmel) could make a new video. The title of this video could be "How I destroyed the middle class". Mr. Kimmel actions are only second to the burning of Norwalk. I attended the meeting and watched Mr. Kimmel hold water for the outsourcing plan.
Kimmel is always writing his Self-Righteous letters to the editor when people remember him from the BOE days! This guy was trouble then and he is a turncoat now. Mr. Kimmel please resign!
LOL... the burning of Norwalk? Destroying the middle class? Overdramatize much?
How exactly does outsourcing garbage collection destroy the middle class? You still haven't addressed how the City saving $1+ million per year hurts taxpayers, the vast majority of whom are middle class but aren't in Unions.
Sounds like you are really mad at Bruce Kimmel for thinking independently from the Democratic caucus. That's too bad. As I said, in my book party matters less than doing what's right for Norwalk. The fact that someone is in a different party from you doesn't make him or her a bad person, it just means that he or she sees the world a little differently from you.
As far as videos are concerned, I think Common Council members do not have any business making videos, but if I were forced to choose I would rather see a video by McCarthy and Kimmel than another awful rap video from David Watts.
Iwitherspoon
You have just demonstrated the effectiveness of the Colonel's misleading statements. Now you are talking about outsourcing saving over a million a year. The number Alvord is using, if accurate, includes projected savings on other services not related to outsourcing, but, the way his numbers have been presented, a lot of people have been misled to attribute the entire (probably exaggerated) number to outsourcing, and that is NOT TRUE.
lwitherspoon,
Benedict Arnold was born in Connecticut, I am just saying. These two council members are pushing a plan to destroy the middle class. I think Mr. Kimmel's actions are only second to the burning of Norwalk. Bruce Kimmel has been a troublemaker for years I remember the pain he caused on the BOE. The Democratic Party should have known what they were getting when they endorsed this guy.
Bruce Kimmel should resign!
@rickybobbi,
How exactly will a plan to save middle-class taxpayers $1 million+ per year "destroy the middle class"?
Although I wasn't at the Council meeting, I certainly did hear about it from several different sources. And they were very reliable sources. I have no doubt that if I got a copy of the DVD, the comments that I heard from those who mentioned the fracas to me would be accurate. Mr. Watts' temper, accusatory manner and lack of control is becoming well known and may eventually hurt his own causes. It is up to him to choose how he acts, but bear in mind that one reaps what one sows.
Employees Local 2405 were invited to submit a bid but declined.
That sums it up for me.
The sealed bid packages go to the Purchasing Department, not to the Mayor. When the RFPs are published, they list the items that the administration wants included. This is nothing new and is standard business operating practice. Since the bids are sealed when they arrive, it would be difficult to know how to underbid another contractor.
And if I am not mistaken, the City previously had a lengthy contract with CRRA for all of our garbage to be moved out of the transfer station. I think the term was 30 years, but I'm not sure. We paid through the nose for that. 10 years? I don't think that's such a bad deal.
Earth to Paige come in Paige
Oh, hey. I forgot to ask. How's that recall petition coming along?
Dave W.,
Keep fighting for the people and I am so proud of you!
Love,
Your Mom
Attn: The Daily Norwalk Staff:
It is a shame that you continue to allow people to make comments under assumed names instead of real names. It is a bit distracting and tedious to have to sift through repeated accusations of he said/she said and misinformation that serve little purpose in engaging discussion on important issues.
To the people that hide behind pseudonyms, own your words.
OH Jackie take a chill
What a shame we need to think about where the garbage goes after pickup it would seem its going to South Norwalk.
Lets sharpen our pencils I'll try and be more descriptive and no can't spell for a reason.
The smell is the worse on friday night to Sunday landfills are not open till Monday.
Fact is the city has ignored the amount of pollution for years in the area.
Fact is the residents have complained many times about Meadow st where the garbage will be stored,Stepping Stones I doubt will tolerate any smell at all when the transfer station is closed for the weekend and any garbage is left to rot all weekend and yes lets not forget RATS
Up near the fence it smells how can that be? wasn't no trash left on site a condition set by the city when Meadow st opened? good one Dave you can be a witness.(read the conditions to protect those who live there from the smell)
Mark Dicaprio head of Emergency Response DEEP 860 424 3361 for sheen on Village creek after each storm
Gary Rose when you think the air is polluted 860 424 3468 he like Mark Dicaprio has a files on Meadow street inches thick they have done a great job working Norwalks ills.
Dennis Schaine spokesperson for the DEEP can only agree anything added to Meadow street should be looked at closely.860 424 3110
Then you have Dept of Ag in Milford finding PCBs metals and asbestos in shellfish meat by sample in the past behind the businesses on Meadow St but says its not responsible to let the public know until more testing needs to be done. Glad its not my kids who cut thru the area in question or have a house to sell there.
Dirt that once held suspected problem shellfish has been removed can no longer be tested in the Meadow st area ,hope it didn't go to some baseball diamond speculation folks this is a rumor.
call the Sate if you think pollution is problem there are hotline numbers lets be informative call the Coast Gaurd the New Haven office has people in Norwalk all the time to check contaminated water ways.
You don't need a name when facts are supported by those who create them yes those phone numbers are people who have files generatated from Norwalk and most of them on Meadow street and without that transfer station where is the trash going when it can't leave the city for 48 hours?
My posts hurt what property values? I'm sure if the trash was going somewhere other than Meadow Street we would hear protest.
Take for instance East Norwalk that stabbing today is not a daily occurance it was in the middle of the day and shows us all crime is everywhere but imagine if it was all the time there would be all kinds of calls to clean up the streets.
Back to trash and those who think theres don't stink,and of course pollution its all around the end of Woodward ave,I'm sure there is no thought of the former superfund site on Woodward ave where test wells still dot the area.
.
So while South Norwalk has so many ills and is lined with great real estate the question I can ask is why is some shellfish beds closed for the season all the way to Darien and have been for years and no one cares?
Its ok I'm thick skinned I have cancer in my house and no history of it in the family and if it helps I'm not same one who wrote garbage before other places the family has been in Norwalk for over 50 years MR G was a new comer... but he taught a lot of us where to complain :) and how not to spell so we could all blame him.
Whats next ban TOPIX ? those who suffer are those without voice.
There has been a lot of good facts but only my post can be attacked, detraction is yet another way of defending those who do injustice to those who live near Meadow street(NIMBY).Why not list facts from now on no more comments that will stop the the speculation there is lying going on.
Wow - change of heart? - yours was one of the original sites that allowed pseudonyms and where people were the nastiest ever and seldom backed up comments with facts and data. The personal attacks on many of us there were intolerable. In fact, if memory serves me right, it was I who was the first to change from pseudonym (itsridiculous) to real name announcing that if it was good enough to say, it was good enough for my name.
All the local media should require real name (or close enough to for recognition, as in my case).
Agree these posts move off topic often and become unproductive political b.s.
Diane, I'm proud of the innovation I brought to Norwalk in citizen journalism, but have never been comfortable with how comments were handled, and changed the system many times. The abuse of anonymous speech is something that has made it difficult for news, issues and opinion to be aired, and with easy ways to implement real identities even with handles, there's no reason not to do it. Comments are just quicker letters to the editor, and a single policy should apply to all.
JL - To use a common Alvordism: you've been "enlightened".
Too. much bickering between council members simply posturing for support from AFSCME. (dpw union). As I understand it, the bidding/selection of a vendor has been quite proper. As a taxpayer I would like to believe council members, like all of us, sometimes say things in heat of the moment they later regret.....
Hopefully the process can contine in a civil manner notwithstanding the statements made so far.... The council will vote thumbs up or thumbs down, and that is tthat
Bidding/selection of vendor was quite proper ?
Alvord said ten responded to the RFP, but only two bid for the contract, and there is some doubt they are really seperate entities. Doesn't that demonstrate a full blown property rights system, just like the one that got James Galante and others convicted of racketeering in the trash business, a few years ago ?
The other vendors apparently were told by somebody NOT to BID as City Carting Co OWNS Norwalk.
In a civil manner, all the council should study the proposed contracts, negotiated already by Hal Alvord, figure out the actual costs to the city (don't let anyone tell you ), and figure the real savings, if any. Then, and only then, should a vote be taken to give away the jobs of city employees. Their contracts expire soon. Serious, good faith negotiations with their union can find savings without giving away their jobs.
A vote can be postponed to the next meeting. Don't let anyone rush you into a bad decision.
I believe it was Councilman Miklave and Councilman Watts who bloviated that proponents of outsourcing would probably bring up the issue in August when a lot of people were on vacation, the implication being that there would be an attempt to try and sneak through a controversial, unpopular proposal when nobody was around to object.
Then the issue was moved up, into July, and now the same people are bloviating that there's not enough time to study it! Seems to me like more grasping at straws...
Iwitherspoon
Funny how anyone who expresses an opinion that differs from yours is "BLOVIATING"
You, of course, never do anything like that. You are the premier NON-BLOVIATOR. In the dictionary , under non-bloviator, they have your picture.
lwitherspoon
One string banjo paid puppet for the administration
@Tim T
Your posts would make a lot more sense if they were in English.
That would not even help yours
$$$$$$$$$$$
Amen to that!
@Sono, I never saw any question here on odor. I got some emails yesterday and I thought it was important enough to go and check it out. I have responded to the people who made inquiries.
I went down to Meadow St at 6PM last night. It was extremely hot and standing right next to the fence was horrible. If I moved 10 feet away, though, I could not smell anything. I thought that maybe it was the wind. So, I drove to Village Creek. I stopped on Dock, Split Rock and drove all the way out on Outer Rd. The only thing I could smell was what was around the immediate area. I don’t doubt that the time and winds would have an effect on this issue. If there is an issue, anyone concerned should call customer service to get the complaint logged. When I asked for the data, yesterday was the first day anyone ever complained about the smell, ever.
I know we get horrific odors from time to time where I live…but it is low tide smell. Mother Nature’s price for living near the water. It is also very bad and not that far off from garbage truck. I drive by the Meadow St facility at least three times a week and honestly have never smelled anything in passing. Timing, speed of the car, wind, all play a factor there, so, take that for what you will.
I was told in passing that the state is the controlling authority here (DEEP), so I suggest you also log your complaints with them. You can find that info here http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2690&q=322474&depNav_GID=1511
Dave
Take a ride down there now, Sunday evening, 6:22 PM. by my count there are 13 over the road trailers parked, all apparently loaded, and the stench would gag a maggot. I have no opinion as to how far that stench travels. At my age, my sense of smell is not what it was, but I trust your's is still pretty good. If, afterward, you can come back here and tell these nice people odor is not a problem, you either have lost your sense of smell or you are less than completely honest.
We will be waiting to hear from you.
Funny how we never heard from him. It is now Monday at about 11 AM.
David McCarthy never did resond to my complaint about the smell and yes we all know he reads ths Daiy and why not is much better than the Hour and covers the issues more than the Advocate and the week late sister news of the Citizen and the Republican clean up rag The The times,and is ther Moccia Patch for his mistakes?
No Dave won't smell much the politics he practices has its own stench.Odd how even Tom the new head cop has time to ticket old timers here in Norwalk for parking but the rubbish in trailors line the little street City Carting is on without more than a glimpse.
So someone complained about the smell,its there and knowing one or more council members who have gone there to see for themselves and admitted they smell it also seems again to be politics at its best.
Now david knows when not to answer posts if they are strong rumor,its unlikey after Village Creek will complain about the pollution in the creek... they are getting what they want new docks and work on its hamelt so lets not count on them to tell us about the contamination on Meadow st.Its a given after years of shellfish bed closures tne city will admit to any problems there.Be a matter of time Kristin and Dave from Milford in charge of finding contamination in the creek for the State in Milford admit there may be problems in Village creek beyond their expertise in fact they have already set a defensive barrier in place with some members of the shellfish commision to ignore requests to produce reports thats suspect nasty contamination all along Meadow st.Isn't Norwalk politics great Kristins family is from Norwalk as well.
Maybe its time to look at the thin skin of some of the councilors who claim to be insulted,the people they servehave been insulted for years unless your spouse is destined to get the graff we all complain about odd how those who have a lot to lose said nothing,East Norwalk should join Rowyaton the politics are almost the same isn't it?
Deduction will be the Republicans worst enemy along with the Daily the truth stings and cuts bone deep.Its a shame the new breed of Democrats who think the old ones are not doing the job can't get out of their own way and step up to the plate those who are pointing fingers at Calvin and Mike should look into the mirror its their own backyards close to Meadow st is the issue,and yes the city is courting those spokepersons along Meadow street as if damage control was a course the Republicans took in the city.
So what does each counclilor think.or is the next election that sensitive to do the job they were elected to do righ now?
Watts is my rep he is certainly speaking his mind the others who I supported may turn out to be useless after all.
I disagree with my neighbor and friend, Bitsy Farnsworth of Harbor View. I pass City Carting's facility on Meadow Street all the time and I don't think it smells. I go to the town's transfer station pretty often too - that does reek! Moreover, City Carting handles our private garbage collection in Harbor View for a competitive cost delivering excellent service. It's been said at community meetings that complaints are way down from previous providers.
Andrea
Why do you have private collection at harbor view ? I thought once they installed sewers, that became part of the fourth district and you got city collection ?
Garbage sits in dumptrucks from friday afternoon to late sunday night and has for the last year,so its nice you have found time to tell us all we are liars who smell this crap.Rains then it drains into Village creek covers on thses trailors are mesh not industy standard solid to prevent contaminsted water from going into Village Creek.These kinds of posts are normal from your area,the last fire someone from your community told us how great of a job the fire dept did putting out Lajois fire yet Lajois said too too long to get water on it,then the fire dept said they poured many gallons of water on it but later said that figure was wrong.(inch and a half rain in 20 minutes the other day did a number on village creek behind meadow st)
That was after the seperator at Lajoies failed and the residents were lied to there was contamination that made it into the water way,even the Coast Gaurd was told to go home the day of the fire,yet were called a month later to be told a release into the environmet did happen.
Now your power plant one of the dirty five in Ct is at the end of Woodward ave and has permits to pollute the area by the tons each year,but you knew that you live there.So please go back and do your smell test again maybe by living so close to the smokestack at the power plant you have lost the ablity to smell what we do.
The EPA has on file what comes out of the stack,honestly do you really think after having those facts it wouldn't make anyone from the area concerned?
No one even myself can say anyone who thinks everything is fine is stupid,but when arogance is displayed or when lack of knowledge is shown its not stupid its simply lack of information or ignorance,we are all concerned about envoronment and until a cancer rate is done in South Nortwalk we can only count those dying in our area or have had cancer feel protected?
St Vincents Norwalk Hospital and other places in our area will admit ,health risks and studies take years,does the kids who live next to City Carting and Lajoies along with your area have that time?
Its been said way too many people in the area are misinformed not stupid but when painting a canvas not every brush stroke is meant to include everyones thought.I'll do my own canvas armed with facts not emotion.
I dont understand why the unions didnt submit a bid? You have zero chance if you dont submit so stop crying and feel ashamed for not trying. And whats wrong with locking in a 10-year contract? If it keeps rates low for a long period of time then that seems good for the whole town.....unless they end up performing like Arod on the Yankees!
The eight union members whose jobs are at stake are not qualified to bid, no matter what you hear.
They do not have the resources, financial or otherwise to suddenly go into business to compete with a company the size of City Carting. The other companies that responded to the RFP apparently felt they didn't either.
They are in negotiations now and I suspect fully understand the garbage collecting job has to change. We know, watching city carting trucks servicing private customers now, they operate one man trucks equipped with special hardware to lift and dump those 64 gallon containers. Until we see the results of the negotiations, there is no way to make an INFORMED DECSION Tuesday night.
Of course many of us believe this was a "done deal" with City Carting Co. the minute we knew of that company's campaign contributions to moccia's re-election campaign. When Alvord told us that only City Carting and one other company submitted bids, in that business it is not hard to believe the others accepted City Carting's position in an illegal "property rights" scheme, just like the property rights scheme that convicted James Galante, and others of federal racketeering charges a few years ago. The idea that there may have been collusion between the only two bidders this time is certainly not hard to believe. If there was collusion, it is hard to believe Alvord is not at least well aware. One of the people at City Carting has been associated with Tommy Milo and Matty Iannielo, both convicted with Galante.
We know that City Carting and Finnocchio Bros, both Stamford Companies, are registered as separate corporations, but some of us are not convinced they are not very close.
Were the actual bids and the proposed contracts available to this committe before the meeting ? Will those documents be available to the council before next Tuesday ? Will the council be asked to vote based entirely by a presentation by Hal Alvord ? Why did Bondi recuse himself and accuse one of the speakers of personally costing the city a million dollars the last time contracts with City Carting were considered ?
Will anybody investigate for organized crime connections before these ten year contracts are approved ? Alvord talks a lot about anticipated savings, has he mentioned the costs we will be obligated to pay if these contracts are approved ?
Isnt it ironic that theres concern about City carting having a monopoly when in every other part of the city the unions have exactly the same monopoly, except of course theres NO competing bids for those unions. I'm not really in favor of the outsourcing but still find it amazing for municipal union supporters to cry about a monopoly.