by David Flint
The Stephentown Town Board’s decision last week to scrap their contract with a uniform rental company may have been a little too hasty, at least in the eyes of the rental company. The Town Board has now received a letter from an attorney acting on behalf of the Unifirst Corporation threatening legal action unless the Town stays with the contract or coughs up $12,000 to get out of it.
At the last Town Board meeting on August 18, the Town Board passed a resolution establishing an $800 annual stipend for Highway Department employees for purchasing and maintaining their own work clothing. The Board had decided that continuing the services of a uniform rental company was just too expensive. After it was brought to their attention that they had paid Rus Uniforms over $8,000 for the service in 2007, Town Supervisor Tom Sherman recently switched the contract to Unifirst. But Sherman reported at the last Board meeting that it appeared that with all the extra charges included, the Town would not be getting off much cheaper, if at all. He calculated that either company would have the Town paying between $6,000 and $9,000 for uniforms for five people. The Board concluded that an $800 stipend would be reasonable and would save the Town between $2,000 and $5,000. The resolution they passed provided for a $263 pro-rated portion of the stipend to be paid on September 1.
But Attorney John J. Connor of the Syracuse law firm Craig J. Billinson & Associates says in effect, “Not so fast!” In his letter he pointed out that the rental agreement specifies that if the service is terminated prior to the expiration of the agreement, the customer must pay 50% of the rental charges for the remainder of the term of the contract. That, he said, comes to $8,467.20. Moreover, the customer also agrees to purchase whatever clothing or other merchandise that has already been issued, an amount that Connor calculated to be $3,444.20. Adding an amount of $133.80 for services already rendered, the total comes to $12,045.20.
Sherman contends that there in fact was no contract. The Town, he said, had only signed up to try the service and the Board decided to cancel after receiving the first invoice. He said he has spoken with Connor and explained that to him. He will discuss the matter further with the attorney in the coming week, but Sherman is confident the Town is not liable for cancellation charges, and he expected that the matter can be resolved without any litigation.