Township Wins Baldwin Garbage Collection Reimbursement Suit

The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills has prevailed in a “very significant legal case” against Baldwin Manor Apartments.

“Baldwin Manor sued the township claiming the town owed $231,000 and change for reimbursement for garbage collection,” said Township Attorney John Inglesino.

Baldwin Manor based its case on a Supreme Court decision that holds that a municipality has to provide a safe and sanitary refuse collection.

“I think Baldwin Manor thought that they had facts very similar to that particular case,” said Inglesino. “The township has a program that provides in the same manner to residential and commercial property owners for trash collection in cans at the curb.”

In the case of Baldwin Manor, the service could not be provided in a safe manner but the town offered to make “reasonable accommodations" to provide collection on site which was refused by Baldwin, which turned out to be a key factor in the township's favor, said Inglesino.

The case was significant in that it could set precedent for all other apartment complexes in the township, he said.

“If we had lost this case, the township could have been exposed to approximately $3 million of liability,” said Parsippany-Troy Hills Mayor James Barberio.

“In addition, the township would have incurred approximately $650,000 in additional costs each year going forward. Given the 2 percent cap law, these costs would have threatened our ability to continue providing trash collection service to our residents.”