The City of North Wildwood has terminated its contract with waste removal company GME after the company's CEO threatened to 'leave trash in the streets' if the city did not pay it two to three times more than the agreed-upon contract amount, city officials say.
The legal document also alleges that GME CEO said "we are not picking up weekly trash and recycling at $5.78 a unit/month under these emergency circumstances. Let's get this done before it gets ugly."
City officials say they tried to reach an agreement with GME for two months despite continued threats and instead decided to terminate the contract after no agreement could be reached. "While we have been sympathetic to the plight of all businesses dealing with the impacts of the Covid pandemic and other economic issues, we will not make agreements under extortive threats," North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello said. "GME's CEO made it evident that he was attempting to make the contract better for GME because he did not like what his predecessor agreed to. Of course, that is not how public contracts work.
"As the representatives of the residents of North Wildwood, the City Council and I have an absolute obligation to the health, safety and welfare of our City to avoid the prospect of garbage piling up in the streets, Rosenello said. "In order to fulfill that obligation, we have terminated the contract with GME and entered into a contract with Pineland Recycling."
Pineland Recycling is based in Cape May County and handles trash collection for several other municipalities in New Jersey, according to North Wildwood. An emergency City Council meeting was held on April 29 and New Jersey Superior Court Judge Michael J. Donohue was authorized to send a legal opinion to GME informing them that the contract was terminated. Anyone who has issues with the continuation of their trash services is urged to call City Hall at 609-522-2030.
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