Advance Transportation & Logistics, Inc. v. Botetourt County

77 Va. Cir. 164
CourtBotetourt County Circuit Court
DecidedOctober 6, 2008
DocketCase No. CL08-199
StatusPublished

This text of 77 Va. Cir. 164 (Advance Transportation & Logistics, Inc. v. Botetourt County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Botetourt County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Advance Transportation & Logistics, Inc. v. Botetourt County, 77 Va. Cir. 164 (Va. Super. Ct. 2008).

Opinion

BY JUDGE MALFOURD W. TRUMBO

This cause was filed March 26,2008, by Advanced Transportation and Logistics, Inc., against Botetourt County and the Board of Supervisors of Botetourt County. The defendant filed a demurrer on April 17,2008. On May 29, 2008, a hearing on the demurrer was held, at which time this Court sustained the demurrer and allowed the plaintiff twenty-one days from the date of entry of the order to amend the complaint.

On June 24, 2008, plaintiff filed an amended complaint. It was followed by a motion for a bill of particulars filed by the defendant on July 3, 2008, and a responding bill was filed on August 25,2008. The defendant was permitted until July 22, 2008, to file responsive pleadings by order entered July 15,2008. Another demurrer was filed by the defendant on July 21,2008. Both plaintiff and defendant briefed the demurrer, and a hearing was held on August 29,2008, on defendant’s motion to quash the demurrer. A subsequent hearing was held on October 1,2008, to clarify what documents might be filed in response to issues raised at the August 29, 2008, hearing.

[165]*165The subject of this opinion is whether defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s amended complaint should be sustained. The defendants base their demurrer on two grounds: (a) the Virginia Public Procurement Act (“the VPPA”) does not apply to waste hauler contracts entered into under the county’s solid waste ordinance and (b) even if the VPPA applies, the plaintiff does not have standing to sue under its provisions. A demurrer admits the truth and tests the legal sufficiency of facts alleged in pleadings, but not the strength of proof. Glazebrook v. Board of Supervisors, 266 Va. 550, 554, 587 S.E.2d 589, 591 (2003).

A demurrer does not admit the correctness of the pleader’s conclusions of law. Taboada v. Daly Seven, Inc., 271 Va. 313, 317, 626 S.E.2d 428, 429 (2006); Harris v. Kreutzer, 271 Va. 188, 195, 624 S.E.2d 24, 28 (2006). To survive a challenge by demurrer, a “pleading must be made with ‘sufficient definiteness to enable the Court to find the existence of a legal basis for judgment’.” Eagle Harbor, L.L.C. v. Isle of Wight County, 271 Va. 603, 611, 628 S.E.2d 298, 302 (2006), quoting Moore v. Jefferson Hosp., Inc., 208 Va. 438, 440, 158 S.E.2d 124, 126 (1967). The essential question posed by this demurrer is “whether the factual allegations of the [Amended Complaint] are sufficient to state a cause of action.” Harris, supra, at 195-96, quoting Riverview Farm v. Board of Supervisors, 259 Va. 419, 427, 528 S.E.2d 99, 103 (2000).

Facts

The Board of Supervisors of Botetourt County, the governing body of Botetourt County, held meetings on February 26,2008, and March 25,2008. In these meetings, the Board decided to extend the contract terms of persons providing waste hauling services (the “Contractors”) to the County without competitive procurement. These amended agreements that purport to extend the contract terms of the Contractors also added many new provisions, conditions, and requirements.

The Contractors had originally entered into waste hauling services contracts with the County in Tune 2002 pursuant to a competitive procurement process established by the County Code. These contracts were awarded for a term of seven years and were to expire in 2009. The amended agreements extended the terms of these contracts for an additional two and one-half years. The contracts are due to expire in 2012.

Advanced Transportation and Logistics, Inc. (“Advanced Logistics”), a Virginia corporation that operates in the County, is in the business of transporting and handling goods and materials, including solid waste. As the [166]*166Board did not solicit bids for the waste hauling services contracts, Advanced Logistics was never presented with the opportunity to compete for the waste hauling services contracts. Advanced Logistics maintains that, if it had been allowed to compete for the waste hauling services contracts, it could provide the services provided by the Contractors more effectively, efficiently, and at a lower price.

Advanced Logistics filed a Protest and Petition for Reconsideration on March 7, 2008. The Board denied both the Protest and the Petition for Reconsideration on March 25,2008. Advanced Logistics then filed a lawsuit against the Board and the County. Advanced Logistics claims, among other things, that the Board’s decision to extend the contract terms of the Contractors without competition violates the VPPA.

The County demurred to Advanced Logistics’ amended complaint. The County argues that the VPPA does not apply under these circumstances in the area of solid waste collection and disposal. The County also maintains that Advanced Logistics lacks standing to bring a legal action against the County under the provisions of the VPPA.

Analysis

A. The Virginia Public Procurement Act Regulates Service Contracts between Nongovernmental Parties and Local Governments

The VPPA provides that “[a]11 public contracts with nongovernmental contractors for the... purchase of services ... be awarded after competitive sealed bidding . . . unless otherwise authorized by law.” Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-4303 (2008). As a result, the facts as pleaded indicate that the VPPA applies. The Amended Complaint asserts that “the Board purported to approve and authorize . .. [the execution of] . . . amended contract hauler agreements purporting to extend the contracts of the incumbent Contractors... without competition....” (Amended Complaint at 10.) Further, the County does not receive revenue from the waste hauling services contracts because the Contractors charge their fees directly to the citizens of the County. (Brief in Support of Demurrer to Amended Complaint at 16.) As a result, the County argues that the waste hauling services contracts are small purchases and are therefore not controlled by competitive procedures. Id. This argument is unpersuasive. The VPPA applies “whether the consideration is monetary or nonmonetary and regardless of whether the public body, the contractor, or some third party is providing the consideration.” Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-4300 (2008). Therefore, the fact that the consideration for the [167]*167waste hauling services contracts is paid by the citizens of the County rather than the County itself has no consequence on the application of the VPPA to the contracts.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Virginia has previously endorsed the application of the VPPA to waste hauling services contracts. In Holly’s, Inc. v. County of Greensville, 250 Va. 12, 458 S.E.2d 454 (1995), the second lowest bidder for a waste collection services contract brought suit against a county, claiming that the award of the contract to the lowest bidder was void because the lowest bid had not been received in a timely manner. Id. at 15.

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Bluebook (online)
77 Va. Cir. 164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advance-transportation-logistics-inc-v-botetourt-county-vaccbotetourt-2008.