SMETHPORT -ðMcKean County municipalities struggling to balance
next year’s budgets are getting a little unexpected help from their
friends.
The McKean County Solid Waste Authority Tuesday announced it
would distribute more than $1.3 million from the landfill sale to
the 20 municipalities which did not sue them after they raised
rates two years ago.
In a formula based upon population, the payouts range from
$7,195 to Sergeant Township to $186,674 to Foster Township.
Another $2.5 million was allocated to the county government.
The announcement was made in a special meeting Tuesday at the
McKean County 911 Center outside of Smethport.
At the same time, the board ratified a settlement of lawsuits
with the City of Bradford and Bradford Township, giving them
$189,925 and $77,575, respectively, in return for the cessation of
all legal actions.
Those payments, approved by McKean County Court, were the basis
for the payments to the other municipalities.
Board Vice Chairman Greg Bell, in making the motion, explained
that the payments to the city and township worked out to $40.88 per
person. That figure was applied to each remaining municipality to
determine how much it would get.
“At the time of the February 2004 settlement and during recent
deliberations, SWA members have often remarked that the other
municipalities and citizens have been dutifully bringing waste to
Hutchins and paying the posted rate, without filing lawsuits or
asking for special deals. This income was vital to the survival of
the facility until we could finalize the sale to Rustick.
“Now that the sale is completed, the SWA is in a position to
reward the remaining areas of the county for their loyalty. We feel
the most equitable means of computing a rebate for those areas
outside Bradford City and Bradford Township would be based on
population. The combined $267,500 Bradford settlement, plus $65,000
from the February 2004 settlement, plus our legal fees, all divided
by their combined population of 13,991 arrives at a per capita
factor of $40.88 per person,” Bell read from a prepared
statement.
Board members explained that they had struggled with ways to get
some of the money from the landfill sale to the municipalities, and
had decided this was the fairest way.
“As an authority, we have always charged the same rates for
McKean County waste and we have always intended to refund some
monies from the proceeds of the Rustick sale to the municipalities
who stuck with us during these difficult times,” a statement given
to the press said.
The statement notes that it has no control over how
municipalities use the money, but that the authority hopes it will
be utilized “… in some way that … will provide some type of
financial relief for the residents.”
Faced with declining intake and income at the landfill and
possible defaults on bond payments, in December of 2002, the
authority announced it was raising the rates for dumping from
$48.50 to $86 per ton.
The authority at the time said it could see no other way to keep
the landfill solvent and prevent its debts from falling upon the
county.
Bradford city and township balked at paying the increase and
began taking their trash to a New York state facility.
In February 2003, the authority got an injunction in McKean
County Court ordering the two municipalities to obey the county
Waste Flow Control Ordinance and return to dumping at the county
site at Hutchins.
A year later, the authority agreed to reduce the fees to the
municipalities to $48.50 and to reduce what the Bradford
municipalities owed proportionately, a total of about $65,000.
The two municipalities later sued for damages representing the
difference between the $48.50 and a per ton rate they said they
could receive in New York.
The authority statement Tuesday also notes the Flow Control
Ordinance stipulating that all waste from the county be hauled to
the Hutchins landfill now owned by Rustick LLC. is still in
effect.
“We hope, for the sake of the citizens of McKean County, that
the city and township will continue to dispose of waste at
Rustick.
“Nobody wins if Rustick fails in its endeavor to develop and
expand the landfill.”
The sale agreement with Rustick provides for per ton royalties
from tipping fees to be paid to the authority, and some other
payments and benefits for the county.
The rebates to the other 20 municipalities are based upon what
the Bradford municipalities were paid, “along with an additional
amount representing the legal fees and costs incurred in defending
this litigation because these other municipalities stuck with us
and did not force us to incur these costs.”
Municipalities will receive a letter soon informing them of the
sum they will receive, but in return, they will be expected to sign
a release stating they will engage in no lawsuits against the
authority in the future.
Authority members Tuesday seemed pleased and relieved the matter
was settled, but a question still remains of what will become of
the remainder of the money from the landfill sale.
About $5.8 million was deposited at interest after the sale;
more than $4 million will be spent in these settlements, and there
may still be substantial legal costs to pay.
A bill list approved Tuesday carried about $33,000 in payments
to Rhoads & Sinon, the Harrisburg law firm that assisted in the
lawsuits and negotiations with Rustick.
