Ann Arbor, Mich., Settles Lawsuit with ReCommunity

In 2016, officials of the City of Ann Arbor, Mich., raised concerns about ReCommunity, its former recycling plant operator. Those concerns led the city to terminate its contract with ReCommunity and Resource Recovery Systems.

Shortly after the termination, ReCommunity and Resource Recovery Systems filed a complaint in federal court against the City of Ann Arbor for damages arising from the city’s termination of its recycling contract with ReCommunity.

While the complaint was being looked into, the City Council of Ann Arbor approved a $295,690 emergency purchase order for Waste Management to provide its services to the city for at least six weeks. When the six weeks was nearly up, the City Council approved a $588,734 extended agreement, which allowed Waste Management to continue its short-term operation of the city’s recycling plant and waste transfer station.

During the same time period that the contract was extended, the City Council voted 10-1 to direct the city administrator to negotiate an interim contact with Recycle Ann Arbor by March 31. The city administrator moved forward with this action, and the City Council ended up voting 11-0 to award a one-year contract to Recycle Ann Arbor with options for two six-month extensions after June 30, 2018, when its one-year contract is up.

Recycle Ann Arbor currently handles the curbside pickup of Ann Arbor’s recyclables, and since July 1, it has overseen the process of hauling materials out of town for processing.

Now, over a year later, the City of Ann Arbor has settled its lawsuit with ReCommunity. ReCommunity has agreed to dismiss and release with prejudice all claims, including the claims it brought or could have brought against the city. In return, the city agrees to release with prejudice all claims, including claims it submitted against the surety bond for the contract, and the claims it brought or could have brought against ReCommunity.

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