COURT HOUSE –– A contract that provides a host community benefit from a local recycler was again the major topic of discussion at Middle Township Committee’s meeting Aug 4.
Albrecht and Heun, a mining and recycling company, made a pact with the township in 1990 to pay $1 per ton of recyclable material taken onto its Goshen Road facility.
The company, also known as Future Mining and Recycling Inc., met this agreement by accepting municipal recyclables such as fallen leaves and giving the township other materials such as mulch at no charge.
The agreement was put under some scrutiny over the past several months and a recent review of township’s records revealed that the company had been calculating the benefit incorrectly for several years and owes the township over $180,000.
Taxpayers suggested to the governing body that results from that review, conducted by Municipal Auditor Glen Ortman of Ford, Scott & Associates, LLC, might be incomplete. They said the auditor’s report was based solely on receipts from municipal trucks that had picked up and dropped off material at the recycling center as well as periodic reports generated by Future Mining.
The residents said a more thorough audit of company records and outside contractors could reveal a much larger benefit owed to the township. Dan Lockwood, Republican challenging Mayor F. Nathan Doughty in the November election, said the agreement was potentially worth over $200,000 per year.
The residents asked the township to investigate the matter further.
Sam Kelly, of the Middle Taxpayers’ Association, characterized it not as a request but as a demand.
“We want every dime that the taxpayers are owed,” Kelly said. “We want this issue pursued aggressively.”
Kelly noted that it wasn’t a township investigation that revealed the $180,000 discrepancy. It was by the efforts of Lois Shuman that the money was discovered.
Shuman, along with many other township residents, oppose Future Mining’s plans to transfer its current operations on Goshen Road to another site on Indian Trail Road in Burleigh.
In researching Albrecht and Heun, Shuman discovered the host community benefit agreement, searched through the records and found the discrepancy.
Committee members said the township is currently barred from recovering the $180,000 from Future Mining due to pending litigation, but will do so as soon as the matter is resolved.
The governing body, however, did not commit to any further investigation or audits of the benefit agreement.
Committeeman Steve Barry said that Ortman’s report was a “very thorough professional review of the agreement.”
In a press release dated June 20, Barry reported that the benefit records were complete and the computations and tonnage reports were accurate.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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