Town of North Hempstead v. Incorporated Village of Westbury

153 Misc. 2d 225
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 20, 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 153 Misc. 2d 225 (Town of North Hempstead v. Incorporated Village of Westbury) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Town of North Hempstead v. Incorporated Village of Westbury, 153 Misc. 2d 225 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Eli Wager, J.

Two related lawsuits have been commenced both raising issues arising out of chapter 46 of the Town of North Hemp-stead Code (Sanitation Code) and its State enabling legislation. The first action, Town of N. Hempstead v Incorporated Vil. of Westbury (index No. 5271/91), was commenced by the Town of North Hempstead (Town) and the Town of North Hempstead Solid Waste Authority to permanently enjoin alleged violations of the Town’s Sanitation Code. The defendants Incorporated Villages of Mineóla and Westbury have counterclaimed alleging, inter alla, tortious interference with contracts, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, breach of implied contract and seeking an accounting, rescission and a declaratory judgment declaring certain laws unconstitutional.

In the second action, Incorporated Vil. of Great Neck Plaza v Town of N. Hempstead (index No. 12593/91), the Incorporated Village of Great Neck Plaza seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as damages relative to the same provisions of the Town’s Sanitation Code.

Plaintiffs and defendants in both actions have moved and cross-moved for summary judgment. Inasmuch as these motions and cross motions raise similar legal questions and arise [227]*227out of similar facts and are based on the same statutes and local laws, the motions and cross motions in both actions shall be analyzed and determined simultaneously.

I. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

In 1983, the New York State Legislature enacted Laws of 1983 (ch 299), a law requiring, inter alla, the closure of virtually all Long Island landfills by December 18, 1990 (ECL 27-0704).

Also in 1983, the New York State Legislature enacted Laws of 1983 (ch 544, § 2 [1]) which authorized the Town of North Hempstead to adopt a local law to, inter alla, "exclusively control all solid waste and all energy and materials derived therefrom, including without limitation the collection, transportation and delivery of solid waste to a designated resource recovery facility or facilities within the town of North Hemp-stead for storage or processing or for any other disposition or handling”. Section 2 also provides for the establishment and collection of fees by the Town for said services (L 1983, ch 544, §2 [2]).

The express policy of chapter 544 with respect to the collection and disposal of solid waste in the Town of North Hempstead was "to displace competition with regulation or monopoly public service under the general supervision of the department of environmental conservation” (L 1983, ch 544, § 2). The State expressly granted such authority to the Town so it could "carry out the purposes of chapter five hundred fifty-two of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty, relating to improving the environment by control of air, water and land pollution, and to promote solid waste management planning” (L 1983, ch 544, § 1).

Laws of 1980 (ch 522), which is codified in ECL article 27, provides for the preparation, updating and implementation of the New York State Solid Waste Management Plan (ECL 27-0103). The stated purpose of chapter 522 is to assure coordination of State, regional and local solid waste planning activities and to effect maximum resource recovery from solid waste on a cost-effective basis (ECL 27-0101).

In 1984 the State Legislature amended the Public Authorities Law by adding a new title 13-F (Public Authorities Law § 2409-a et seq.) which created the Town of North Hempstead Solid Waste Management Authority (Authority). The Authority was given express statutory power to, inter alla, acquire, [228]*228hold, and sell real property for its corporate purposes (§ 2049-d [3]); to "collect, receive * * * transport, process, dispose of, sell * * * recycle and deal with, in any lawful manner and way, solid waste and any products or by-products thereof now or hereafter developed * * * including any energy generated by the operation of any facility” (§ 2049-d [5]); to plan, develop and construct "projects” and to pay for the cost thereof (§ 2049-d [6] ["project” is defined in section 2049-b (8) as "any solid waste management-resource recovery facility”]); to "contract with the town, other municipalities, state agencies, public corporations or persons, for the purpose of collecting, receiving, treating and disposing of solid waste, including, without limitation, to contract with municipalities, state agencies * * * for the delivery of all solid waste generated within a stated area to a specific facility” (§ 2049-d [9]); to borrow money and issue bonds (§ 2049-d [13]); to fix and collect rates, rentals, fees and other charges for use of facilities in order to provide sufficient revenue to pay the principal and interest on the bonds (§ 2049-d [14]).

In addition to the powers vested in the Authority, Public Authorities Law § 2049-u provides that municipalities within the Town shall have the power to adopt local laws limiting competition and requiring that all solid waste generated within its boundaries be delivered to a specified solid waste facility. It further provides, "[t]he town shall be empowered under this section to adopt any such local law requiring the delivery of solid waste to a specified solid waste management facility”. (Public Authorities Law § 2049-u [1].)

The Authority has the power to issue bonds to pay the cost of any project or for any other corporate purpose (§ 2049-h [1]). Neither the Town nor the municipalities are liable on the bonds of the Authority (§ 2049-j).

In 1986, purportedly pursuant to the authority vested in it by Laws of 1983 (ch 544) and Public Authorities Law § 2049-u, the Town of North Hempstead enacted Local Law No. 6, better known as the Town’s Flow Control Law (Town of North Hempstead Sanitation Code § 46 et seq.). Pursuant to the Flow Control Law, all acceptable solid waste and recyclables generated within the Town must be delivered to a solid waste management facility designated by the Commissioner of the Town’s Department of Solid Waste Management (Commissioner) (§ 46-14). "Solid waste management facility” is defined as "any facility employed beyond the initial solid waste collection process including, but not limited to, transfer stations, [229]*229baling facilities, rail haul or barge haul facilities, processing systems, including resource recovery facilities” (§ 46-2).

In December 1986, the Town entered into written contracts with most of the villages within the Town including defendants Mineóla, Westbury and Great Neck Plaza wherein, in order to induce the Town to maintain a recycling facility, these villages agreed to deliver all recyclables to the Town’s facility in separated form at no charge to the villages. Pursuant to chapter II of the agreement, the villages specifically acknowledged "that all activities with respect to solid waste generated or originated within the Municipality must be conducted in compliance with the Sanitation Code of the Town of North Hempstead, Chapter 46 of the Town Code”.

Finally, on March 15, 1988 the Town and the Authority entered into a landfill concession and solid waste service agreement (the Service Agreement) pursuant to which the Authority assumed responsibility for solid waste management in the Town, which at the time included operation of the Town’s L-5 Landfill (article II).

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Related

Town of North Hempstead v. Incorporated Village of Westbury
182 A.D.2d 272 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
153 Misc. 2d 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/town-of-north-hempstead-v-incorporated-village-of-westbury-nysupct-1991.