NYS comptroller’s office probing concerns with South Blooming Grove sanitation contract
The Orange County village signed a five-year agreement with the private, Middletown-based sanitation company Mirangi in 2023 for a second garbage pickup, costing residents nearly $1 million.
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News 12 has confirmed that the state Comptroller’s Office is now investigating concerns with a controversial garbage contract in South Blooming Grove.
The Orange County village signed a five-year agreement with the private, Middletown-based sanitation company Mirangi in 2023 for a second garbage pickup, costing residents nearly $1 million.
Village officials say residents expressed the need for a second pickup.
News 12 obtained the contract under the Freedom of Information Law. It states the village agreement is based on the Town of Blooming Grove’s request for proposal and the town’s contract with Mirangi for the first pickup.
Residents raised concerns about the legality of the contract during a heated, standing room only board meeting last week.
One resident said, “We will fight you tooth and nail. I will go down. I will spend every dime I got because you ain’t stealing from me!”
Another woman stated that she’s retired and cannot afford to pay an additional surcharge on her village tax bill. “I don’t even fill my can now. I’m retired and I have to incur another bill when the taxes are going up and everything. Now, I have to pay for a second trash pickup that I don’t need," she said.
Documents obtained by News 12 show the village created its own sanitation district in January. News 12 spoke to residents that month after several homeowners reached out upset with the newly received bill, saying they don't want a second pickup.
The village has seen rapid expansion and growth in recent years, including the construction of new businesses and homes, as an influx of residents move in from the neighboring Town of Monroe and Village of Kiryas Joel.
The additional sanitation service comes out to nearly $300 a year for a single-family household.
Blooming Grove Supervisor Robert Jeroloman tells News 12 that he previously told village officials by email that they would have to get their own bids under the state's RFP laws for an additional sanitation contract. He also says the village would have to request "home rule" permission by New York state to create their own sanitation district, and that state representatives, Assemblyman Brian Maher and Sen. James Skoufis would have to sponsor the request since the village falls in their district.
Maher and Skoufis both say South Blooming Grove never made that request, and Maher says he reached out to the village with concerns about the contract.
