In the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, Egan & Golden, LLP recently won dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a large environmental services company against the Village of Patchogue. At issue was the conflict between a municipality's broad authority to enter into inter-municipal agreements and a municipality's obligation to bid or let certain contracts under the New York State General Municipal Law.

In compliance with Section 103 of the General Municipal Law, the Village had invited private companies to bid on disposal of its municipal solid waste and recyclables. The Plaintiff had submitted a bid that it argued was the lowest responsible bid. The Village rejected all of the bids it had received and instead entered into an Inter-Municipal Agreement (“IMA”) with the Town of Brookhaven for disposal of Village waste and recyclables. The Plaintiff brought suit against the Village and the Town, arguing that the rejection of all the bids and the signing of the IMA were improper, outside the scope of the Village's authority, and a scheme by which the Town and Village skirted the requirements of GML § 103.

Under the direction of Brian T. Egan and Christopher Bianco, the firm moved to dismiss the Article 78 on the basis that the Village was well within its authority to reject all bids and enter into an inter-municipal agreement for the provision of a shared municipal service. In its motion papers the firm noted that under General Municipal Law Section 119-o and opinions from the New York State Comptroller's Office, IMA agreements between municipalities are not subject to competitive procurement rules and regulations. The Village also pointed to the lower disposal prices per ton that the Village would receive under the IMA as compared to the prices offered in Plaintiff's bid.

Justice Joseph Pastoressa's decision granting the Village's Motion to Dismiss may be found here (PAUMANOK ENVIRONMENTAL LLC v. Incorporated Village of Patchogue, et al., 5383/2016).