COURT HOUSE — Every once in a while, something good comes from something not so good.
Those who have been following the Indian Trail mining and recycling application before the Middle Township Zoning Board know that it has been a controversial one, but the township might soon see a financial benefit from the ongoing situation.
A local company, Albrecht and Heun and its subsidiary Future Mining and Recycling Inc., has been attempting, for over a year, to transfer its operation on Goshen Road here to a 253-acre site off Indian Trail Road in Burleigh.
Scores of township residents have gone out in opposition to the proposal citing potential adverse impacts, and several lawsuits have sprung up involving Future Mining, the township, township committee and township employees.
Despite the storm clouds surrounding this application, the township expects to see a $180,000-silver lining when it’s over.
Lois Shuman, one of the neighbors opposed to the project, conducted hundreds of hours of research into the mining and recycling application and apparently her work paid off.
Among other things, Shuman discovered last November that Albrecht and Heun had since 1990 a host community benefit agreement with the township in which the company agreed to pay $1 per ton of recyclable material it takes onto its Goshen Road site.
The company had proposed to process 23,750 tons annually for a potential yearly benefit of nearly $24,000 for the municipality.
Township officials have said that Albrecht and Heun pays the host community benefit by accepting the township’s recyclable material, including fallen leaves, at no cost.
In her research, Shuman found that the numbers did not add up and she brought the situation to the attention of township committee. On June 16, township committee awarded a contract to accounting firm Ford, Scott & Associates to audit the host community benefit agreement.
At the June 16 meeting, township officials said it would be one to two weeks before the report was finished.
According to the Ford, Scott audit report dated June 20, since 1995 Albrecht and Heun had been calculating the benefit differently from the original agreement. Those calculations showed that the township owed the recycling company over $50,000 in its running account.
The audit’s recalculation, however, resulted in an amount of $181,199 due to the township from Albrecht and Heun.
At Monday’s township committee meeting, former county agricultural agent Larry Newbold asked about the report. Committeeman Steve Barry said the audit had been done for weeks, but nobody had asked for it.
“Our position, according to the Ford, Scott analysis, is that we are owed $180,000,” Barry said.
Newbold asked if Albrecht and Heun would be charged interest.
Barry said interest was not included in the calculations.
Because the host community benefit question is involved in one of the aforementioned lawsuits, township Solicitor James Pickering said before Albrecht and Heun’s outstanding balance is addressed they would have to wait until the case is decided by Superior Court Judge Valerie Armstrong.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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