On April 1, 2024 the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Decision issued a decision in the matter of Suburban Disposal, Inc. v. City of Paterson, Filco Carting, Corp., and E & B Hauling Services, LLC affirming the denial of a request by Suburban Disposal, Inc. (“Suburban”), the apparent second low bidder, for a permanent injunction against the execution of a contract for solid waste collection and disposal between the City of Paterson (“City”) and the lowest bidder Filco Carting Corp. (“Filco”) and the dismissal of Suburban’s Verified Complaint by the trial court.

Representing the City, Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs successfully obtained a dismissal in the trial court and an affirmance on appeal. Suburban, who was seeking to retain its stronghold in the City for another 5 years, argued that Filco’s bid was not responsive and should have been rejected based on certain language in its Bid Bond and alleged material defects in its responses to the NJDEP Questionnaire. The trial court concluded that the City’s decision to award the contract to Filco was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable because the Bid Bond was not defective. As to the alleged defects in the answer to the NJDEP Questionnaire, the trial court found that any defect was waivable. The Appellate Division affirmed and further found that there was no material defect in the answers to the NJDEP Questionnaire. The Appellate Division also agreed with the City that Suburban lacked standing to challenge the award to Filco since Suburban’s bid exceeded the appropriations by the City in the initial contract term.

The City had awarded the contract to Filco for a term commencing on October 1, 2023 before the lawsuit was filed by Suburban, but was enjoined from executing that contract with Filco while the matter was pending before the Appellate Division. On behalf of the City, Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs solicited proposals for collection and disposal services during the pendency of the appeal and facilitated the execution of an emergency contract with Filco at substantial savings. Now that the appeal has been decided and the stay against execution of a contract has been lifted, the City can move forward with the execution of its long-term contract with Filco with tremendous savings for the city.

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