The attorneys for both McKean County and the Solid Waste
Authority are continuing in their attempt to reach an agreement,
which will ultimately lead to the dissolution of the authority.

On Wednesday, County Administrator Richard Casey said there has
been no time frame set to reach an accord, noting the lawyers are
“still massaging the language of what will ultimately be the
agreement.”

Both sides have been meeting and passing back and forth
proposals for the framework of an agreement for several months,
with some of the issues still being debated centering around
guaranteeing authority board members indemnity from any future
lawsuits, something the county commissioners have agreed to in
principle.

Officials said such issues as how the funds from the landfill
sale will be handled have already been agreed upon, adding any
final pact will include the dissolution of the authority.

“It’s still a work in progress at this point,” Casey said,
adding there could be one more meeting between members from both
parties before everything is hammered out. “To my knowledge they
haven’t met yet and there isn’t any meeting set up at this point.
Until the attorneys finish their work, it’s futile to have a
meeting.”

The county is being represented in the talks by Neal Devlin and
Jennifer Gornall-Rouch of the Erie law firm of Knox, McLaughlin,
Gornall and Sennett. Meanwhile, the authority is being represented
by its Harrisburg law firm, principally attorney Ken Joel.

The most contentious issue between both sides seemed to revolve
around the dissolution of the authority and what to do with its
assets when that is completed. Other issues have included the
county’s desire to see curbside pickup instituted across the county
and the right to enforce illegal dumps.

During a special commissioners meeting last November, the panel
passed a resolution dissolving the authority. That ruling was
countered by the authority passing out $1.3 million to local
municipalities in appreciation of the entities taking their trash
to the landfill despite an increase in the tipping fees a few years
ago.

The county was also in line to receive $2.5 million from the
authority, but did not take the funding in light of the
circumstances. The two sides eventually ended up in McKean County
Court, where President Judge John Cleland ruled for a special
injunction to freeze the authority’s assets.

Later, the commissioners and authority reached a truce, with the
county indicating it wouldn’t stand in the way of the authority’s
disbursement of the funds to the municipalities. The two sides have
been in talks since that point.

The latest the authority could be dissolved is January 2007; the
authority has two bonds which were purchased for financing and have
call dates of July and January 2007. The authority contends those
obligations must be paid before the authority can be dissolved.

When the authority is dissolved, then any income to the county
could be invested to create a contingency account and reduce debt
service, which would enhance the county’s credit standing.