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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
NORTHVALE, N.J.—A longstanding interlocal agreement for Northvale to dispose of Hillsdale’s leaves fell apart in mid-September amid conflicting accounts of poor negotiating skills on Northvale’s part and Hillsdale officials’ frustration with stalled negotiations.
Amid accusations that contract negotiations were handled poorly and caused Northvale to lose a three-year leaf disposal contract—forfeiting about $180,000 in borough revenue—a few residents, public works employees, and area public officials said they were aware of frustrating negotiations with Northvale that caused Hillsdale to seek other leaf disposal options.
Local public works employees said Northvale has accepted leaves from Hillsdale for more than a decade, while Northvale resident John L. Hogan—a former mayor and the current Bergen County clerk, speaking at a Sept. 12 Northvale Mayor and Council meeting—said that agreement was in place much longer than that.
In interviews with sources involved and aware of contract negotiations, it appears a breakdown in contract negotiations between both towns occurred when Hillsdale was initially not offered a three-year contract by Northvale and when Northvale would not set a “flat price” for annual leaf disposal, according to Hillsdale’s mayor.
At least two residents and Northvale public works employees alleged that Mayor Stanley “Ed” Piehler and the DPW’s Fleet Manager Rob Pisano share blame for the demise of the interlocal leaf disposal contract with Hillsdale.
Mayor Piehler responds
Piehler said the DPW began negotiating a new contract with Hillsdale over the summer.
“They assumed they were negotiating in what they thought was good faith; however, at the last moment Hillsdale pulled out of discussions with Northvale and signed what they believed was a more favorable agreement with the Borough of Demarest,” Piehler emailed Sept. 27.
“As I had not been involved in the negotiations at all, I contacted the Hillsdale Mayor and Business Administrator after the fact to ask what could be done to bring the business back to Northvale,” wrote Piehler.
“I was disappointed to hear that the deal was already done with Demarest,” he added.
Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco said his borough’s administrator reported negotiating with Northvale’s borough clerk, the DPW superintendent and DPW foreman.
Fleet manager’s role
Reached by phone Sept. 27, Fleet Manager Rob Pisano said he was only involved in leaf disposal contract negotiations early on and thought that the “all-inclusive” price Hillsdale had asked for had been agreed to.
Pisano said it was a “done deal” at that point and noted he had no idea why the interlocal contract did not work out. He said the mayor had asked him to “step in and help” when contract negotiations first began for a new three-year contract.
Pisano said he was also surprised when the leaf disposal contract was pulled from the Sept. 12 agenda. Asked if he had any role in the contract not working out, he said “absolutely not.”
The fleet manager’s position, and role in DPW activities, was brought up several times by DPW foreman Billy Guyt at the Sept. 12 borough council meeting, when DPW workers and supporters also protested outside borough hall over the loss of two public works positions and hiring of a non-union fleet manager.
Hillsdale signs with Demarest
At the Sept. 12 Northvale governing body meeting, although a resolution to renew the contract with Hillsdale appeared on the agenda, the Hillsdale Borough Council had already voted the night before, on Sept. 11, to approve a three-year contract with Demarest to dispose of its leaves for $55,000 annually. The Northvale contract was pulled from the agenda before any vote was taken.
Northvale DPW officials said the annual leaf disposal contract brought in about $60,000 annually, and wondered aloud how negotiations fell apart.
Guyt alleged that firm costs for annual leaf disposal had been negotiated between Northvale and Hillsdale in a meeting between superintendents from both towns, and that the governing body simply needed to approve the contract.
Demarest officials confirmed that a leaf disposal contract was discussed briefly at that council’s August meeting and it was officially approved by the Demarest Council Sept. 24. That contract with Hillsdale allows Hillsdale to dispose of all leaves at the Demarest Leaf Compost Facility, said Demarest Mayor Ray Cywinski.
Mayor Ruocco said that Hillsdale was unable to reach an agreement “that was favorable to our borough.”
“The [four-year] fixed agreement with Demarest, that was a key,” he said. The contract runs from 2018 through 2021.
Ruocco declined to comment on any allegations related to Northvale’s negotiators not being responsive, although he did note that Hillsdale’s borough administrator “really couldn’t get definitive answers, things were slow dealing with the Northvale folks.”
Ruocco said he was told that Hillsdale Administrator Jonathan DeJoseph “was not satisfied with the terms [Northvale] offered; those terms did not meet with his satisfaction.”
“My understanding was that they [Northvale] preferred a one-year deal and that it could be escalated every year over the next two years of the project,” Ruocco said.
Ruocco said though the three-year, $55,000-per-year contract that Hillsdale approved with Demarest is “a tad bit better” than the Northvale contract, he said money was not the deciding issue.
Based on the $60,000 annual contract cost, according to Northvale DPW, the new Demarest four-year contract may save Hillsdale about $20,000 over three years.
The leaf disposal contract listed on the Sept. 12 Northvale agenda was a three-year contract (2018 through 2020) that listed progressively increasing annual leaf disposal costs. These included $11.40 per cubic yard for 2018; $11.65 per cubic yard for 2019; and $11.90 per cubic yard for 2020.
Anger and accusations
At Northvale’s Sept. 12 meeting, Hogan, Bergen County’s clerk, and independent mayoral candidate Patrick Marana, both criticized Mayor Piehler for failing to secure the contract, which they said would mean a loss of revenue. Hogan claimed that having a leaf disposal contract with another town has brought in $2 million in revenues to Northvale over several decades. He said he blamed Piehler for not securing another leaf disposal contract with Hillsdale.
“It’s revenue, you know how hard it is to make up lost revenue. No one undermined you, you waited too long to negotiate that contract,” Hogan said to Piehler during the Sept. 12 public comment session.
Hogan alleged Piehler has not yet negotiated a contract with a private vendor to grind and turn piles of leaves coming into Northvale’s leaf compost site this year. He alleged that may have been part of the reason Hillsdale decided to go elsewhere.
“That’s a disgrace, that’s a shame, that’s going to hurt me in taxes next year,” Hogan charged.
Marana claimed that he found out in June that Hillsdale was looking around for another leaf disposal site because “they got tired of waiting for a response from Northvale…that prompted them to go out and look at other options and they liked what they saw,” he said.
“It was really a nice steady stream of revenue… To me this contract should not have been lost. It was lack of response,” Marana said Sept. 12.
Piehler did not address Hogan or Marana’s comments at the Sept. 12 meeting.
Marana opposes Piehler for mayor on Nov. 6 and has repeatedly clashed with the mayor over local tax increases, hazardous playground equipment, the new DPW fleet manager position and local development issues.
Both Marana and Piehler are former county employees who worked for Hogan.
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