http://www.pennlive.com/ap/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-50/1180696193323490.xml&storylist=topstories

Trash pickup bills rise as incinerator loses money
6/1/2007, 6:55 a.m. EDT
The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — City residents are likely to see a more than 60 percent increase in their trash bills as the city's trash incinerator continues to lose money.

The agency that owns the incinerator, the Harrisburg Authority, proposed to nearly quadruple its disposal fee, from $4.83 to $19.32 a month, which would raise a resident's monthly bill from $22.66 to $37.15. The authority asked the city to start charging the new rate Sept. 1.

The incinerator in south Harrisburg is losing about $1 million a month following an $80 million renovation last year that left the plant operating with only two of its three burners.

The plant is expected to continue to burn money until next year when $28 million in improvements and upgrades are due to be completed. The Harrisburg Authority has approved a 10-year management agreement with Covanta Energy, of Fairfield, N.J., to run the plant. The company agreed to a $28 million loan for the plant upgrades as part of the deal.

http://blog.pennlive.com/bluelagoon/2007/06/guys_just_admit_it.html

Guys, Just Admit It...
Posted by J. Disappointed June 01, 2007 10:39AM
Categories: Harrisburg, political double-talk, ridiculosity

We suck. We really do. We are the equivalent of the kid in school who gets picked last for everything, even kickball (you have to be really uncoordinated to be bad at kickball). Harrisburg is the city equivalent of the kid with the runny nose, Coke-bottle glasses, and permanent halitosis. We are the kid who counts the lunch lady as his only friend. We are in debt, taxes are going up, the incinerator is draining us dry with it's debt payments and our schools are DEAD LAST in educational rankings for the state. We are the Alabama of school districts. Ohmigod, we are the guy who brings his cousin to the prom and tries to play it off like she's really his date.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/118065935337900.xml&coll=1

Incinerator woes push up trash bills
Friday, June 01, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Persistent problems at Harrisburg's trash incinerator are sparking a sharp increase in city trash bills.

The Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the incinerator, has approved quadrupling its disposal rates for city customers.

The disposal rate is the portion of a city resident's monthly trash bill that is paid directly to the authority for city trash deposited at the incinerator.

Under the proposed increase, which has been forwarded to the city for implementation, the disposal fee would rise from $4.83 per month to $19.32.

That would increase a resident's monthly trash bill from $22.66 to $37.15.

The Harrisburg Authority is asking the city to begin billing at the new rate on Sept. 1.

"It's a big increase, but we have to have it," authority executive director Bob Ambrose said.

Ambrose added that the disposal rate paid to the authority had not been increased in a dozen years. The other portion of the city trash bill, set at $17.83 per month, covers curbside trash pickup by city workers.

Separately, the authority is seeking an agreement with Dauphin County that would raise the per-ton tipping rate for county trash deposited at the incinerator by $10 per ton.

The move would increase Dauphin County's contracted rate to $65 per ton, according to Ambrose. However, about $5 per ton is repaid to the county in host fees, he said.

Dauphin County spokeswoman Diane McNaughton said county officials had not seen a formal proposal and had no comment.

All of this is because the incinerator isn't earning enough money, Ambrose said.

Councilman Dan Miller said the problems are rooted in mismanagement, adding that three appointees to the authority board made by City Council should be allowed to take their seats. So far, the would-be members have been blocked by a court battle over council's appointment powers.

"Current management has made a complete mess of the incinerator. These board members, supported by the mayor, have made repeated bad decisions, and now the residents of Harrisburg have to pay the price," Miller said.

The plant in south Harrisburg is losing about $1 million a month. The biggest reason for the incinerator's revenue shortfall is last year's botched $80 million renovation that left the plant operating with just two of its three burners.

The situation is expected to continue this year and well into next year, until $28 million in plant improvements and upgrades are completed.

The Harrisburg Authority this week approved a 10-year management agreement with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., to run the plant. As part of the deal, the company has agreed to a $28 million loan for the plant upgrades.

But Covanta will not proceed with the management contract or the plant improvements until it receives guarantees from the Dauphin County Commissioners and City Council for the loan.

Also this week, Mayor Stephen R. Reed approved a $1.67 million transfer from the city's general fund to the authority to cover a $3.4 million payment due today on bonds floated to finance the incinerator.

It marks the second consecutive year that the city has bailed out the incinerator. Last year, the incomplete and inefficient plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million, helping to fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/city_incinerator_sparking_rise.html

Incinerator woes will raise city trash bills

Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News
May 31, 2007 14:45PM

The troubles with Harrisburg's trash incinerator are about to hit city residents in their wallets.

The Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the incinerator, has approved a sharp increase in trash disposal rates for city customers. The move, which has been forwarded to the city for implementation, would quadruple the disposal rate from the current $4.83 per month to $19.32 per month.

The disposal rate is the portion of a city resident's monthly trash bill that is paid directly to the authority for city trash deposited at the incinerator. That would increase a resident's monthly trash bill from the current $22.66 to $37.15, nearly a 64 percent increase.

The authority is asking the city to begin billing at the new rate on Sept. 1. "It's a big increase, but we have to have it," authority executive director Bob Ambrose said.

Ambrose said the disposal rate paid to the authority has not been increased in a dozen years. The other portion of the city trash bill, now $17.83 per month, covers curbside trash pickup by city workers.

Separately, the authority also is seeking an agreement with Dauphin County that would raise the per-ton tipping rate for county trash deposited at the incinerator by $10 per ton.

The move would increase Dauphin County's contracted rate to $65 per ton, according to Ambrose. However, about $5 per ton is repaid to the county in host fees, he added.

Dauphin County has a long-term contract with the authority that locks in its tipping fee and indexes increases to inflation. But in view of the plant's financial problems, Ambrose said he is hoping county officials would agree to the increase, especially in light of hike in city disposal rates.

All of this is because the incinerator just isn't earning enough money, Ambrose said.

The plant in south Harrisburg is losing an estimated $1 million a month. The biggest reason for the incinerator's revenue shortfall is last year's botched $80 million renovation that left the plant operating with just two of its three burners.

The situation is expected to continue for the rest of this year and well into next, until $28 million in plant improvements and upgrades are completed.

The Harrisburg Authority approved a 10-year management agreement this week with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., to run the plant. As part of the deal, the company has agreed to borrow $28 million for the plant upgrades.

But Covanta will not proceed with the management contract or the plant improvements until it receives guarantees from the Dauphin County Commissioners and the City Council for the loan.

Also this week, Mayor Stephen R. Reed approved a $1.67 million transfer from the city's general fund to the authority to cover a $3.4 million payment due tomorrow on bonds floated to finance the incinerator.

It marked the second consecutive year that the city was forced to bail out the incinerator. Last year, the incomplete and inefficient plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million, helping fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

This year, the Harrisburg Authority is on the hook for about $13 million in incinerator debt payments. However, the authority is exploring ways to restructure the plant's existing debt, which totals $228 million.

The refinancing plan probably will include a $14 million borrowing later this year so the authority can meet future payments on the incinerator bonds.

All the incinerator's existing debt is guaranteed by the city, and a much smaller portion also is backed by Dauphin County, meaning the two municipalities could be forced to pay if the authority defaults.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1180576553138780.xml&coll=1

City loans authority $1.67 million for incinerator debt
Thursday, May 31, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's trash incinerator appears once again to be burning through the city's budget.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed this week approved a $1.67 million "wire transfer" from the city's general fund to the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the incinerator.

In a memo, Reed said the transfer was needed so the authority could meet $3.4 million in payments due tomorrow on bonds floated to finance the incinerator.

This year, the Harrisburg Authority is on the hook for about $13 million in incinerator debt payments. So far, it's paid only about $3.5 million.

Authority officials had said they were hoping to make the June payment without assistance from the city, but it ultimately proved impossible.

"We didn't want this to happen," authority executive director Bob Ambrose said yesterday. "This was a big payment, and it was touch and go."

Ambrose added that the authority is exploring ways to restructure the plant's existing debt, which totals $228 million. The financial plan likely would include a $14 million borrowing later this year so the authority can meet future payments on the incinerator bonds.

Both Ambrose and Reed said the city would be repaid the $1.67 million when the authority has its "bridge financing" in place.

"We expect reimbursement ... later this year," Reed wrote in a memo outlining the transaction.

But City Councilman Dan Miller is asking for further legal clarification on state laws and city rules for loaning money, including which city officials must approve the transactions.

He cited the loan as proof that problems at the trouble-plagued plant continue, despite the involvement of a private waste company to manage the incinerator.

"This ... loan is further indication of how the complete mismanagement of the incinerator retrofit is negatively impacting city residents," Miller said of a botched project to renovate the plant.

"Loaning [$1.67 million] to the Harrisburg Authority takes money from essential city services," he said. "These actions demonstrate fiscal irresponsibility and are a negative reflection on the management of the city."

The plant in south Harrisburg is losing an estimated $1 million a month, a situation that's expected to continue for the rest of this year and well into next, until $28 million in plant improvements and upgrades are completed.

The Harrisburg Authority this week approved a 10-year management agreement with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., to run the plant.

As part of the deal, the company has agreed to a $28 million loan for the plant upgrades. But Covanta will not proceed with the management contract or the plant improvements until it receives guarantees from the Dauphin County commissioners and City Council for the loan.

The biggest reason for the incinerator's revenue shortfall is last year's botched $80 million renovation that left the plant operating with just two of its three burners.

All of the incinerator's existing debt is guaranteed by the city, and a much smaller part also is backed by Dauphin County, meaning the two municipalities could be forced to pay if the authority defaulted.

It's the second year in a row the city is being forced to bail out the incinerator. Last year, the incomplete and inefficient plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million.

That helped fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million, leading to city layoffs, multimillion-dollar borrowings and a 17 percent real estate tax increase for this year.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/city_wires_167_million_for_inc.html

Harrisburg wires $1.67 million incinerator payment
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News May 30, 2007 15:51PM
Categories: Breaking News, Dauphin County, Environment, Local government, Midstate

Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator appears once again to be burning through the city's budget.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed this week approved a $1.67 million electronic payment from the city's general fund to the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the incinerator.

In a memo, Reed said the transfer was needed so the authority could meet $3.4 million in payments due June 1 on bonds floated to finance the incinerator.

This year, the Harrisburg Authority is on the hook for about $13 million in debt payments. So far, it has paid only about $3.5 million.

Authority officials are exploring ways to restructure the plant's debt, which totals $228 million. The financial plan likely would include a $14 million borrowing later this year so that the authority can make payments on incinerator bonds over the next few years, financial adviser Bruce Barnes has said.

The plant in South Harrisburg is losing an estimated $1 million a month, a situation that's expected to continue well into next year, until $28 million in plant improvements and upgrades are completed.

The biggest reason for the revenue shortfall is last year's botched $80 million renovation that left the plant operating with just two of its three burners.

It's the second year in a row the city is being forced to bail out the incinerator. Last year, the incomplete and inefficient plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million.

That helped fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million, leading to city layoffs, multimillion-dollar borrowings and a 17 percent real estate tax increase for this year.

Post a comment | View comments (2)

COMMENTS
noway1 says...

How in the world could somone "BOTCH" an $80 million renovation project and still be employed. The city wastes more money on projects than it take in revenue. The State wants to sell the Turnpike, Harrisburg wants to pay someone to run it's incinerator....aren't there any public employee's capable of doing their jobs!

Posted on 05/30/07 at 7:43AM

fattony3 says...

I am surprised any private firm would touch the incinerator. There is going to be more in legal fees than revenue for the foreseeable future. Compliance/air controls are going to be nightmare. It's time to close this dinosaur.

Posted on 05/30/07 at 8:39AM

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1179972625174611.xml&coll=1

HARRISBURG
Incinerator deal no quick fix, board says
Thursday, May 24, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A long-term contract for a private company to operate Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator appears close at hand.

The deal, expected to be approved next week, would provide at least $25 million to repair and upgrade the three-burner facility following a botched $80 million renovation halted last year.

But the long-anticipated 10- to 20-year contract would be no quick fix for the incinerator or its owner, the Harrisburg Authority.

Authority officials said yesterday that they don't expect the incinerator to be operating at full capacity until well into next year, noting that extensive repairs and redesigns would take nine months to a year to complete. And the construction schedule would be dependent on weather and the availability of parts and equipment.

The deal with New Jersey waste company Covanta Energy would not provide any funds to cover payments on the incinerator's existing debt, which totals $228 million.

This year alone, the Harrisburg Authority is on the hook for about $13 million in debt payments. So far, it's paid only about $3.5 million, with a second scheduled payment of $4.6 million due June 1.

"We'll scrounge," Keller said, noting that as the plant improvements come on line, the incinerator would generate more money.

"This agreement is going to get the project done, and we are all going to save lots of dollars for everybody," he said.

Just not in time for this year's debt payments.

The incinerator makes money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale. This year, the plant's revenue from all sources has been about $1.2 million a month.

The plant is generating $1 million less than what it's budgeted to earn each month. This is primarily due to the incomplete renovation that left the plant operating with two of its three burners.

With underperformance expected to persist for the rest of this year, Keller did not rule out looking to the city for money to cover the incinerator's bond debt, which Harrisburg guaranteed by a vote of City Council.

"If for some reason the authority couldn't pay it, the city would have to," Keller said. "The city is on the line for the debt."

If the city is forced to bail out the incinerator again, it could be a repeat of last year, when the plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million.

That helped fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million, leading to city layoffs, multimillion-dollar borrowings and a 17 percent real estate tax increase for this year.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

WHAT'S NEXT

The Harrisburg Authority, which owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator, has scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday to vote on a long-term operating agreement for the plant with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J.

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/harrisburg_incinerator_contrac.html

Incinerator contract contains no quick fix
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News May 23, 2007 19:26PM
Categories: Business, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate

A long-term contract for a private company to operate Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator appears close at hand.

The deal, expected to be approved next week, would provide at least $25 million to repair and upgrade the three-burner facility following a botched $80 million renovation halted last year.

But the long-anticipated 10- to 20-year contract would be no quick fix for the incinerator, nor for its owner, the Harrisburg Authority.

Authority officials said Wednesday they don't expect the incinerator to operate at capacity until well into next year, noting that extensive repairs and redesigns will take nine months to a year to complete. The schedule would depend on weather and the availability of parts and equipment.

Moreover, the deal with New Jersey waste company Covanta Energy would not provide any funds to cover payments on the incinerator's existing debt, which totals $228 million.

This year alone, the Harrisburg Authority is on the hook for about $13 million in debt payments. So far, it has paid only about $3.5 million, with a second scheduled payment of $4.6 million due June 1.

Authority executive director Bob Ambrose and board Chairman John Keller said the agency has cobbled together the funds to cover the June payment. But the two were less confident about meeting upcoming payments in September and December.

"We'll scrounge," said Keller, noting that as the plant improvements come on line, the incinerator will generate more money. "This agreement is going to get the project done, and we are all going to save lots of dollars for everybody."

Just not in time for this year's debt payments.

The incinerator makes money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties, and using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale. This year, the plant's revenue from all sources has been about $1.2 million a month.

At that rate, the plant is generating $1 million less than what it's budgeted to earn each month, largely because the incomplete renovation left the plant operating with only two of its three burners, or at about two-thirds of its design capacity of 800 tons of trash daily.

With this level of underperformance expected to persist for the rest of this year, Keller did not rule out looking to the city for money to cover the incinerator's bond debt, which the Harrisburg City Council voted to guarantee.

"If for some reason the authority couldn't pay it, the city would have to," Keller said. "The city is on the line for the debt."

If the city is forced to bail out the incinerator again, it could be a repeat of last year, when the plant underperformed its budget by $14.3 million.

That helped fuel an overall city deficit of $13.8 million, leading to city layoffs, multimillion dollar borrowings and a 17 percent real estate tax increase for this year.

WHAT'S NEXT:

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1179539736245700.xml&coll=1

HARRISBURG
WESTWARD BOUND
Saturday, May 19, 2007

Harrisburg's Western artifacts are about to ride off into the sunset.

Officials with Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas blew into town yesterday to begin the job of packing up the estimated 10,000 Western and American Indian items collected by Mayor Stephen R. Reed for a now-canceled museum. The artifacts were being kept at a secure city warehouse.

Jeb Stuart, a city consultant in charge of coordinating the artifacts' sale, said the packing job was expected to take most of the weekend. He said there are so many items, the auction firm would have to make another trip in June.

The artifacts will be shipped to Dallas by an armored tractor-trailer driven by armed and bonded security guards. There, they will be cleaned, photographed and cataloged for sale at a Dallas auction set for Oct. 19-21.

Facing a city fiscal crisis, Reed agreed to sell the $8 million collection, which he bought using revenue from the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the city's trash incinerator and other utilities. The auction proceeds will be used to reduce a budget deficit that piled up last year.

JOHN LUCIEW, The Patriot-News

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1179297637192360.xml&coll=1

HARRISBURG COUNCIL
2 of Reed's 3 picks lose nod in primary
Martin-Roberts, Wilson triumph in Democratic race
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg City Council incumbents Gloria Martin-Roberts and Susan Brown Wilson appeared to beat back a challenge from a mayor-endorsed slate to win Democratic nominations for second terms.

Of the three candidates backed by Mayor Stephen R. Reed, just one -- attorney Brad Koplinski -- appeared to win a Democratic nod, according to unofficial vote tallies last night.

The results would leave City Council essentially the way it was before the election -- a 4-to-3 split generally favoring a stronger check on Reed's powers and a sterner limit on his spending.

But Martin-Roberts said last night that her win wasn't about council vs. Reed, but rather her four years of dedication to Harrisburg.

"I work hard for my community," she said at a midtown reception. "I care about my community."

Winners Martin-Roberts and Wilson would join fellow council members Linda Thompson and Dan Miller in forming a voting bloc that typically favors restraining Reed's powers and spending.

Meanwhile, Koplinski would join members Wanda R.D. Williams and Patty Kim as generally Reed-friendly. President Vera Jean White, a Reed ally, did not run for another term.

Wilson said last night there were no pre-set agendas for her second term, other than Harrisburg's progress.

"It means we will continue to move forward," she said. "There are no agendas, none whatsoever."

With all 28 precincts reporting, Martin-Roberts garnered 1,658 votes; Wilson got 1,554; and Koplinski followed with 1,549 to round out the three available Democratic nods.

Reed team members G. Eugenia Smith and Calobe Jackson Jr. trailed with 1,545 and 1,520, respectively.

Challenger Kia Hansard, who attempted to ride the incumbents' coattails, fell short with 1,343 votes. And former city councilwoman Patricia Stringer lagged with 680.

There were no candidates on the Republican side of the ballot, but Reed team members ran an active write-in campaign that could win them nominations, setting up a general election race this fall.

The primary followed last year's bruising budget battles, which resulted in staff layoffs, bailout loans and a 17 percent city real estate tax hike for this year.

And it came amid a court fight over the council's powers to appoint members to the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

The results seem to indicate that the discord might not end any time soon.

Martin-Roberts is pressing for full implementation of a city smoking ban that would finally force Reed, a notorious smoker, to cease lighting up in his city office and vehicle.

And a deal to turn around the financially strained incinerator has yet to be finalized, and any effects of the plant's $1 million-a-month losses on the city budget have yet to be seen.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1179019513265050.xml&coll=1

City Council race
framed as high stakes
Mayor Stephen R. Reed isn't on the ballot this year, but he's a dividing figure in the race for City Council.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Prolific blogger Darnell Williams described the race for Harrisburg City Council in these bold terms:

"It's democracy versus fascism," said Williams, who is supporting one-term incumbents Gloria Martin-Roberts and Susan Brown Wilson and newcomer Kia Hansard in Tuesday's Democratic primary.

Williams' assessment might describe the stakes in World War II, but a typically hum-drum off-year municipal primary?

"Yes," he insisted. "People don't use those terms, and they don't understand those terms. But I have heard people talk about how the mayor has his hands in everything."

Mayor Stephen R. Reed is equally strident in his assessment of the election's stakes and just as ardent in his support for his endorsed slate -- Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith.

"It is without question the most significant city election in over a decade," Reed said. "The basic issue is having a City Council that is capable of getting good things done in a cooperative way for the city of Harrisburg."

Reed blames Wilson and Martin-Roberts, along with two other council members whose terms are not up, for exacerbating last year's city budget crisis, which resulted in staff layoffs, emergency bail-out loans and a 17-percent tax increase.

"They will block everything," he said of the incumbents. "The election will determine whether City Council can be productive and contribute or continue to produce controversy and gridlock."

While many seem to frame the race as the "Reed team" vs. those promising to be a stern check on Reed's power, a seventh candidate could emerge as a surprise spoiler in the race for three party nominations.

Former city councilwoman Patricia Stringer, generally seen as respected, level-headed and fiercely independent, could draw votes from any of the candidates on both sides of the Reed divide, city observers and residents said.

Stringer, who served on the council from 2000 to 2004, has repeatedly cited her vote as the lone dissenter to the botched incinerator renovation as her shining moment.

"She's the wild card," Williams said of Stringer. "I think the race is three-on-three, but the spoiler is going to be Pat."

There are no candidates on the Republican side of the ballot. In city politics, winners of the Democratic primary typically cruise to victory in the general election.

Yet, despite the hyperbole some are using to frame the race, only a small fraction of Harrisburg's 21,268 registered Democrats are expected to turn out.

Several people involved in the campaigns said 1,500 to 1,650 votes could be enough to claim one of the three Democratic nods up for grabs in the primary.

Whatever this race lacks in numbers, it makes up for with passion.

City business owner Jason Smith, who mounted a failed bid for mayor in 2005, said Reed might have grown overconfident in his seventh term.

"Perhaps Reed's greatest misstep was thinking that his re-election meant people liked the way he was doing things," Jason Smith said. "Reed heard that he could continue to abuse power unchecked."

Ricardo Davis Sr. said he became a Reed team volunteer after growing tired of watching council members bickering in meetings broadcast on a local cable access channel.

"I used to watch City Council all the time," he said. "I could not put up with that. I turned it off. I was getting too angry."

By contrast, Davis said he met Eugenia Smith, a Harrisburg School District official, while trying to launch a nonprofit after-school project. He said she helped him with the project and later introduced him to the rest of the Reed team.

"I liked the way they were talking, and I said, 'Hey, I'm down with that,'" Davis said. "Yes, we need change, but we need change with people who are willing to work with the mayor, not assassinate his character. City government is all of them."

But where Reed and his candidates tout teamwork, Williams and other foes suspect "puppets."

One former Reed-endorsed council member, Dan Miller, has been anything but a puppet, opposing the mayor on several notable issues. Miller, elected in 2005, insists it's mainly Reed's fault.

"I believe the mayor has called or e-mailed me exactly once since I have been in office," Miller said in a statement supporting Martin-Roberts, Wilson and Hansard. "The mayor spins a myth that council will not work with him. The truth is the exact opposite."

In fact, Jason Smith said a little opposition could make Reed a better mayor.

"I believe that if properly balanced, Mayor Reed may be a much more effective leader, and our community will have the accountability and inclusive voice that we deserve," he said.

Midtown resident Melissa Peiffer disagreed, saying she's tired of what she called the bickering and personal agendas of the incumbents.

"I think the future of Harrisburg is at stake, and sometimes you need a new voice," said the Reed team supporter. "The incumbents had their opportunity to work with the mayor, and they showed they can't. I like out team."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1178934002315900.xml&coll=1

Authority board won't change, for now
Supreme Court sends case back to lower panel
Saturday, May 12, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will not tamper with the Harrisburg Authority board, leaving the matter to a lower court -- at least for now.

The high court's order, issued late this week, means the City Council's three appointees to the Harrisburg Authority -- the agency that owns the city's trash incinerator -- will continue to be barred from taking seats on the board.

The Supreme Court remanded to Commonwealth Court the case dealing with the council's power to appoint authority members, with arguments before a multi-judge panel scheduled for June 13.

The latest Supreme Court order reaffirmed a ruling by Justice Ronald Castille. On April 17, Castille overturned a Commonwealth Court order that would have allowed the council's appointees to take office. Castille's ruling came just as the new members were preparing to hold their first official meeting.

The Supreme Court's action means Chairman John Keller, Vice Chairman Fred Clark and Secretary Leonard House -- all appointed by Mayor Stephen R. Reed -- are on the authority board. The council's appointees -- Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse -- remain off.

"The status quo right now is the appointees cannot take their seats," Royce Morris, attorney for the City Council, said yesterday.

The struggle between Reed and the council over control of the board's membership is considered crucial, as the authority is in the late stages of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the Harrisburg incinerator's long-term operator.

Covanta is expected to provide financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

The plant is losing about $1 million a month because of a botched $80 million renovation that was halted last year before its completion, officials have said.

Elements of the case have now been heard in three courts.

Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter, who granted the original injunction barring the council's appointments from office, is expected to decide whether to grant a permanent injunction in late June.

It all started on Feb. 20, when the council voted 5-2 to override Reed's veto and appoint its choices to the board.

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/state_supreme_court_rules_harr.html

State Supreme Court rules Harrisburg Authority board to remain set for now
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News May 11, 2007 17:44PM
Categories: Breaking News, Courts, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate, State government

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will not tamper with the Harrisburg Authority board, leaving the matter to a lower court -- at least for now.

The high court's order, issued late this week, means that City Council's three appointees to the Harrisburg Authority -- the agency that owns the city's troubled trash incinerator -- will continue to be barred from taking seats on the board.

The Supreme Court remanded the case dealing with the authority's members and the council's power to appoint them to Commonwealth Court, which has scheduled arguments before a multijudge panel for June 13.

The latest Supreme Court order reaffirmed an earlier ruling by Justice Ronald Castille. His ruling on April 17 overturned an earlier Commonwealth Court order that would have allowed the council's appointments to take office. Castille's ruling came just as the new members were preparing to hold their first official meeting.

The Supreme Court's action means that Chairman John Keller, Vice Chairman Fred Clark and Secretary Leonard House are on the authority board. Council appointees Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse remain off.

"The status quo right now is the appointees cannot take their seats," Royce Morris, attorney for City Council, said Friday.

Membership of the board is considered crucial as the authority is in the late stages of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the Harrisburg incinerator's long-term operator.

Covanta is expected to provide financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

The plant is losing about $1 million a month because of a botched $80 million renovation that was halted last year before its completion, officials have said.

Elements of the case have been heard in three courts.

Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter, who granted the original injunction barring council's appointments from office, is expected to decide whether to grant a permanent injunction in late June.

It all started on Feb. 20, when the council voted 5-2 to override a Reed veto and appoint its own members to the board.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/columnists/1178416519233461.xml&coll=1&thispage=2

About love, and other musingsv Sunday, May 06, 2007

[...]

Quoting James Brown:

Please, please, please, please.

The Harrisburg City Council has plenty on its plate -- the hottest issue, of course, being the incinerator.

Long ago, the city should have realized it would have been cheaper to make steam by burning dollar bills directly.

But I digress.

NANCY ESHELMAN: 255-8163 or neshelman@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1178332819102140.xml&coll=1

June ruling possible in board suit
Saturday, May 05, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Legal arguments continued yesterday over who could best run the city agency that owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator.

But don't expect a final court ruling anytime soon.

After about 90 minutes of testimony, Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter set a court calendar that wouldn't have him decide the case before June.

The case revolves around who should appoint the five-member board of the Harrisburg Authority -- Mayor Stephen R. Reed or the City Council.

Portions of the case have been appealed to Commonwealth Court and the state Supreme Court. But Kleinfelter's temporary injunction, issued Feb. 28, continues to bar the council's three appointees from taking seats on the board.

Yesterday, one of those appointees, local attorney James E. Ellison, touted his legal career as well as his civic service as ample qualifications to serve on the board.

Royce Morris, attorney for the council, pored over Ellison's credentials in an attempt to refute Reed's claims that simultaneously installing three new members -- a voting majority -- would cause irreparable harm.

Morris did not explore the credentials of the council's two other appointees, Erica Bryce and Eric Papenfuse, both business people.

Authority Vice Chairman Fred Clark countered in his testimony that it's not necessarily qualifications but experience running the authority that matter most when the incinerator is losing about $1 million monthly and a contract to privatize its operation is nearly complete.

Clark testified that he doubted any of the council's appointees would have been prepared to act as swiftly as the authority board did in January, when it ousted the original incinerator contractor, fired the staff and brought in a nationally recognized company, Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the plant's operator.

Councilman Dan Miller, the third and final witness, testified that to prompt greater independence of the agency, he decided to oppose Reed's nominees to the authority because he perceived the individuals were too close to Reed.

Miller said he opposed Reed nominee Shawn O'Toole, even though he testified that O'Toole was qualified.

"I know he was a personal friend of the mayor," Miller said, explaining his stance.

The council rejected Reed's last three nominees, including Clark, who continues to serve an expired term. On Feb. 20, the council voted 5-2 to appoint its own board members.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/harrisbrug_authority_again_the.html

Harrisburg Authority gets another hearing
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News May 04, 2007 18:53PM
Categories: Breaking News, Courts, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate

Legal arguments continued today over who could best run the city agency that owns Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator. But don't expect a court ruling any time soon.

After about 90 minutes of testimony, Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter set a court date that wouldn't have him deciding the case until the latter part of June, at the earliest.

The case involves who should sit on the five-member board of the Harrisburg Authority, and which branch of city government -- Mayor Stephen R. Reed or the City Council -- has the legal power to appoint members to the board.

Portions of the case have been appealed to Commonwealth Court and to the state Supreme Court. But Kleinfelter's temporary injunction, issued Feb. 28, bars the council's three appointees from taking seats on the board.

Yesterday, one of those appointees, local attorney James E. Ellison, touted his legal career, which includes a stint as the Harrisburg Authority's assistant solicitor, as well as his civic service, as ample qualifications to serve on the authority board.

Royce Morris, attorney for the council, painstakingly pored over Ellison's credentials in an attempt to refute Reed's earlier claims that simultaneously installing three new authority members -- a voting majority -- would cause irreparable harm.

However, Morris did not explore the credentials of council's two other appointees, Erica Bryce and Eric Papenfuse, both businesspeople.

Authority Vice Chairman Fred Clark countered in his own testimony that it's not necessarily qualifications but actual experience running the authority that matters most when the incinerator is losing an estimated $1 million monthly and a long-range contract to privatize the plant's operations is nearly complete.

Clark testified that he doubts any of the council's appointees would have been prepared to act as swiftly as the authority board did in January when it ousted the original incinerator contractor, fired the city staff running it and brought in a nationally recognized waste company, Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the plant's operator.

Councilman Dan Miller, the third and final witness, shed light on how three vacancies became open on the board, which has staggered terms to avoid such a circumstance.

Miller testified that to prompt greater independence of the agency, he decided to oppose Reed's nominees to the authority because he perceived the individuals were too close to Reed.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1177970130236640.xml&coll=1

HELP AT HAND
Team of experts is available to scrutinize incinerator deal
Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The meter is running on the city incinerator fiasco at the rate of $1 million a month. That should be all that anyone needs to know to be motivated to achieve a reasonable and dependable resolution that stops the hemorrhaging before the city of Harrisburg, which is ultimately responsible, finds itself in a financial hole so deep it will be hobbled in everything it might do for years to come.

A long-term deal is said to be near between the Harrisburg Authority, which owns the incinerator, and Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., to provide for the facility's operation, and $25 million in needed repairs and upgrades that are essential to generate sufficient revenues to pay off the plant's whop ping $228 million in debt.

The prob lems with this ill-fated venture never cease. Virtu ally since its inception in the late 1970s, the city incin erator, locat ed in south Harrisburg, has been better at burning money than trash. Over many years and many bond issues the facility amassed a level of debt far beyond its worth. After the state Department of Environmental Protection forced the shutdown of the facility for failing to meet emission standards, Mayor Stephen R. Reed and his advisers decided that the city had little choice but to rebuild the incinerator and hope that it would perform virtually flawlessly -- as it had never done in the past -- for the next 30 years. In the process, the hope was that the revamped facility would generate sufficient revenues both to pay off the old debt and cover the $80 million in new debt, while also meeting operating costs.

Under this plan, virtually everything had to go right for it to succeed. Instead, virtually everything went wrong. The company hired to do the work, without the exercise of due diligence the public had every right to expect, Barlow Projects, Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., proved inadequate to the task, technologically and financially. Not only did the retrofit come in well behind schedule, the work was never completed. In the end, only two of the incinerator's three burners proved operational.

That left a major hole in the city's budget, which belatedly brought City Council into the act, sparking a fight over control of the board of the authority that continues today, not in one, but three different courts, further complicating an already runaway nightmare. And as a further expression of the virtually total dysfunctionality of this enterprise, the steam line from the incinerator recently sprung a leak, ending steam sales that were projected to provide nearly $5 million of the facility's estimated $27 million in annual revenues.

Covanta, which has a good track record owning and operating similar facilities around the country, has come forward to say that there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, it could be excused for being dismayed at the legal confusion whirling around who controls the authority board. While we are hopeful that Covanta will prove to be an excellent partner for the city, we think under the circumstances that Ronald Reagan's famous line of "trust, but verify" is more applicable than ever. The authority did not do its homework nor properly protect the city in contracting with Barlow. With many of the same actors still involved in the current negotiations, it is imperative that the authority get it right this time.

Fortunately, help is at hand. A coalition of the city's clergy, concerned about the community-wide impact of another deeply flawed result, has brought to the table a team of experts with notable credentials who can provide the due diligence that was missing in the previous contract. The city is paying for their services, and needs to fully engage these highly qualified individuals, which include Dr. Saeed Gbadamosi, a certified public accountant, who previously had provided an independent analysis of the city budget.

These separate and independent sets of eyes need to have full access to the project, its papers and draft contract to ensure that -- this time in the long and dismal history of the incinerator -- Harrisburg gets it right. But time is of the essence.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1177733410230270.xml&coll=1

Court bars meeting set by council appointees
Saturday, April 28, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Membership on the Harrisburg Authority seems to have become a game of musical chairs, with Pennsylvania's various courts calling the tune.

The latest to stop the music was the state Supreme Court, which abruptly canceled yesterday's coming out party for City Council's appointees to the authority board.

Justice Ronald Castille vacated an earlier Commonwealth Court order just as the three council-appointed members were about to call their first meeting.

Castille's ruling once again bars the three from joining the authority board, and their planned meeting had to be hurriedly canceled.

A copy of Castille's one-page order served as a cancellation notice for the meeting. It was posted on the locked glass doors of City Hall, where the session was to be held.

The ruling was a win for Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who was twice rebuffed earlier this week by Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner.

As recently as yesterday, Smith-Ribner ruled in favor of the council and even threatened Reed's attorneys and staff of the Harrisburg Authority with "appropriate sanctions" if they attempted to interfere with her court order.

That order would have allowed the new members to meet and discharge the duties of their office.

But Reed's attorneys immediately appealed Smith-Ribner's order to the Supreme Court, which ruled just in time to halt the planned 5:30 p.m. meeting.

Reed faulted the council for playing a "dangerous game" with the authority, which owns Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

He said a change in the authority board's membership could delay or even derail progress on a long-term deal with incinerator operator, Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J.

Reed said that under the nearly completed deal, Covanta would provide financing for plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

Reed said the lease agreement would include funding to cover any shortfall in the plant's debt payments for this year and next, and would include an option for Covanta to purchase the plant later in the 10- to 20-year pact.

The plant is losing about $1 million a month because of a botched $80 million renovation that was halted last year before its completion, officials have said.

"This deal would effectively eliminate for the long term any and all issues with the plant," said Reed, adding that he feared the council's appointments could "shut down" that progress.

Royce Morris, attorney for City Council, insisted the law was on the council's side and that its appointments eventually would take their seats on the authority.

"They used an [emergency appeal] to the Supreme Court to undo what had been done by Commonwealth Court," Morris said. "We are right in the law. We are just going to keep moving forward with the law."

The Supreme Court order means that Chairman John Keller, Vice Chairman Fred Clark and Secretary Leonard House are on the authority board. Council appointees Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse are off, with their brief membership having lasted less than five days.

Papenfuse declined comment yesterday as he walked away from the canceled meeting, a cell phone to his ear.

The legal case over the authority board's membership and the council's power to appoint members is far from settled.

There are hearings or arguments scheduled in no less than three courts -- Dauphin County, Commonwealth and the Supreme Court -- on various aspects of the case started Feb. 20, when the council voted 5-2 to override a Reed veto and appoint its own members to the board.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/columnists/117770554419080.xml&coll=1

Slow down, Fast Eddie, before you become a statistic
Saturday, April 28, 2007

[...]

JEERS to Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed who is proving to be a "divider" as much as a "decider" after running the city his way for nearly 25 years. The mayor likes to take credit -- and deservedly so -- for raising the city up out of the ashes of urban ruin and despair. But the city faces what may be its greatest peril since the Confederates had their sights on Harrisburg during the Civil War in the form of an incinerator that threatens to torch the city's credit worthiness with at least $228 million in debt as the plant continues to lose money by the barrel full. In short, this is no time for an ongoing, costly fight in the courts with city council. If there ever was a moment when the folks running the city needed to "all get along," this is it.

[...]

HERB FIELD is a Patriot-News editorial writer: 255-8441 or hfield@patriot-news.com.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1177639831281910.xml&coll=1

Legal fight over authority control likely to escalate
Friday, April 27, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

After being barred from office by a court order for more than a month, the three new appointees to the Harrisburg Authority are raring to go.

In an unusual move, City Council's three appointees to the five-member authority board have scheduled a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. today in City Hall.

The appointees -- Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse -- said they were still working on an agenda for the meeting, but they invited the public to turn out.

"We look forward to learning citizens' views on both agenda and nonagenda items related to the Harrisburg Authority," Papenfuse wrote in a joint statement.

The meeting likely will go on without the board's two other members, Chairman John Keller and Secretary Leonard House.

"I did not call the meeting, and I thought I was the chairman," Keller said. House is out of town, Keller said.

The three appointees took office this week after a Commonwealth Court judge sided with the council in its struggle with Mayor Stephen R. Reed for control of the authority.

Saying the council appeared likely to prevail in the overall case about its appointment power, Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner overturned a Dauphin County judge's temporary injunction that had barred the appointees from joining the board.

Keller said that with the ongoing legal case surrounding the board's membership, it's as if there are two boards.

"In my opinion, they are alleged board members," Keller said of the three appointees.

Authority Executive Director Bob Ambrose said he was awaiting a legal opinion that would determine whether he attends the meeting.

"If I have to be there, I will," he said. "If I don't, I won't."

The authority is in the late stages of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the Harrisburg incinerator's long-term operator. Ambrose said last week that a deal could be reached in a week or two.

Covanta is expected to provide financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

Meanwhile, the case over the new members and the council's power to appoint them is far from settled.

Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter, who granted the Feb. 27 injunction, has scheduled a hearing for May 4 on whether to grant a permanent injunction that could block council's appointees again. Reed has predicted the case will reach the state Supreme Court.

The council voted 5-2 on Feb. 20 to override a Reed veto and appoint its own members to the board.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1177475161319880.xml&coll=1

Judge OKs 3 for authority's board
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The fate of Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator might now be in the hands of three new board members appointed by the City Council.

Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse can join the five-member board of the Harrisburg Authority, the incinerator's owner, since a Commonwealth Court judge sided with the council in its struggle with Mayor Stephen R. Reed for control of the authority.

The three, who constitute a voting majority, join board Chairman John Keller and Secretary Leonard House. Vice Chairman Fred Clark, whose term expired in 2005, has been replaced.

The authority is in the late stages of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the incinerator's long-term operator. Authority Director Bob Ambrose said last week that a deal could be reached in a week or two.

Covanta is expected to provide financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

The plant is losing about $1 million a month because of a botched $80 million renovation that was halted last year before its completion, authorities said.

Papenfuse said the new appointees would release a statement today outlining their plans.

Councilwoman Linda Thompson, a leading proponent for change at the authority, said there should be no delay in dealing with the incinerator.

"There will be no irreparable harm in the transition," she said, referring to Reed's claim in court that inexperienced members wouldn't be able to act swiftly and surely enough.

Thompson countered that it was Reed's long-time control of the authority board, through his appointments, that caused the problems.

"I think they will operate as an independent body," Thompson said of the new members. "They will be free to make sound decisions."

However, the legal case over the new members and the council's power to appoint them is far from settled.

Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter, who granted the Feb. 27 injunction, has scheduled a hearing for May 4 on whether to grant a permanent injunction that could again block council's appointees.

Reed has predicted the case would reach the state Supreme Court.

But Royce Morris, the council's attorney, said Smith-Ribner's opinion, while narrowly applying to the temporary injunction, was sweeping in stating that precedent was on the council's side in the larger case over its appointment powers.

Smith-Ribner also stated that Reed's lawyers failed to prove irreparable harm would come from the appointees taking office, and she faulted Kleinfelter for failing to hold a hearing before extending his temporary injunction.

"It does send a clear signal to the trial court of the direction the Commonwealth Court is leaning," Morris said.

The council voted 5-2 on Feb. 20 to override a Reed veto and appoint its own members to the board.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/04/commonwealth_court_judge_sides.html

Commonwealth Court judge sides with City Council in Harrisburg Authority case
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News April 24, 2007 11:30AM
Categories: Breaking News, Courts, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate, State government

A Commonwealth Court judge has sided with Harrisburg City Council in its struggle for control of a city agency that owns the city's troubled trash incinerator.

Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner yesterday overturned a Dauphin County judge's temporary injunction that has barred the council's three appointments to the Harrisburg Authority from taking seats on the five-member authority board.

The council voted 5-2 on Feb. 20 to override a veto by Mayor Stephen R. Reed and appoint its own members to the authority board. However, it remains unclear today how soon council's appointments will be able to take their seats on the board and how long they may remain there.

Attorneys for Reed have promised a swift appeal of the Commonwealth Court judge's ruling. And Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter has scheduled a hearing for May 4 on whether to grant a permanent injunction that would keep council's appointments at bay.

Bracing for still more appeals, Reed had said he has already resigned himself to the fact that the outcome of the case will remain in doubt until it is ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court.

Membership of the authority board is crucial as it is in the late stages of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J. as the incinerator's long-term operator.

As part of the long-term lease deal, Covanta is expected to provide financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to maximize its revenue and pay its $228 million in debt.

---

ByeByeReed says...

Harrisburg really needs to divest itself of its egomaniac of a little Hitler.
Only by seating a new mayor can the city hope to wrest itself out of the financial morass Reed has created.
REED NEEDS TO GO NOW.

Posted on 04/24/07 at 5:05PM

jasonsmith says...

Reed is spinning this one pretty hard. Yet the reality remains: he lost...and (as per legal precident) is very likely to continue to lose, while costing Harrisburg taxpayers thousands. But Hopalong Reed has never let wasting public dollars stop him before.

Maybe a judge needs to bop him on the head with a gavel to get him to snap out of his arrogant self-righteous daze.

Mayor Reed, give us all a break. Enough of this childish and expensive tantrum.

Posted on 04/24/07 at 5:17PM

[Note: the financial wizards promoting the new incinerator projected that it would bring in $3.259 million/year in steam sales (and was to be 14% of their income -- not sure where the $4.9 million / 18% estimate came from)... this is far more than the $600,000 it's bringing it before the steam line broke... it would be a whopping $900,000/year if the 3rd boiler were working... still far less than $3.2 million!]

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1177295106198010.xml&coll=1

Steam loss is new setback for burner
Steam loss delivers setback to burner
Monday, April 23, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The steam has gone out of Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

In another setback for the recently renovated plant, the incinerator has lost its ability to sell steam to its sole customer, NRG Energy Center of Harrisburg.

The plant's steam sales ceased March 23, when a line connecting the incinerator to NRG sprung a leak and had to be closed indefinitely.

The steam sales to NRG were budgeted to bring in $4.9 million a year, or about 18 percent of the incinerator's total projected revenue of $27 million annually.

However, Harrisburg Authority officials said the incinerator's steam production has been inconsistent, generating an average of only $40,000 to $50,000 per month this year, making the loss of the steam line less of a blow.

As a result, the authority, a city agency that owns the plant, is holding off on repairs to the line. The repairs are estimated to cost more than $100,000, and officials are first trying to determine how much money the steam sales can generate.

"Is it worth getting fixed?" asked John Keller, the authority board chairman. "Is it economical?"

Adding to the uncertainty, authority officials said NRG has been pushing to renegotiate its contract with the incinerator to lower the price it pays.

City Councilwoman Linda Thompson called the development "troublesome" and "worrisome." She said the pipe break might mean the line needs to be replaced when the plant needs $25 million in repairs.

The steam line break also created a sinkhole along the sidewalk in the 1100 block of Cameron Street, officials said.

Meanwhile, authority officials said the incinerator would continue to use its steam production to generate electricity that it sells to PPL.

Electricity sales have generated about $200,000 a month this year, but they are budgeted to bring in about $7.8 million annually when the plant is fully operational.

At that rate, the plant is generating $1 million less than budgeted each month. This is primarily due to a botched and incomplete $80 million renovation that left the plant operating at only two-thirds of its design capacity of 800 tons of trash daily.

The renovation was halted last year when the contractor, Barlow Projects Inc. of Colorado, ran out of money, according to authority officials.

The authority is negotiating a 10- to 20-year plant lease with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., which would operate the plant and share profits with the authority.

Under the deal, Covanta would provide financing for the $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to run efficiently and turn a profit.

As soon as the agreement is approved, Covanta would begin work on the plant's incomplete third burner, a three- to sixth-month job. Covanta then would correct design flaws in the two operating burners, notably inadequate ash-handling and air-heating systems that clog and break down.

The work would be done so that at least two of the plant's three burners remain available and the incinerator can continue burning about 500 tons of trash daily.

The incinerator could reach full capacity by the end of the year, officials have said.

The plant needs to operate at least 90 percent of its design capacity to meet its annual $27 million revenue target.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/04/steams_sales_cease_at_troubled.html

Steam sales cease at troubled Harrisburg incinerator
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News April 20, 2007 15:43PM
Categories: Business, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate

The steam has gone out of Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

In yet another setback for the recently renovated plant, a steam line connecting the incinerator to local steam producer NRG Energy Center of Harrisburg sprung a leak last month and has been closed indefinitely.

As a result, the plant is no longer selling steam to NRG under its existing contract, which was originally budgeted to add about $3 million a year in revenues.

However, the incinerator's steam production has been inconsistent, generating an average of only $40,000 to $50,000 per month this year, making the loss of the steam line less of a blow.

The Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the burner, said it is holding off on repairs, which are estimated to cost more than $100,000, until it can determine exactly how much money its steam sales can generate.

"Is it worth getting fixed?" asked authority board Chairman John Keller. "Is it economical?"

Adding to the uncertainty, authority officials said, NRG has been pushing to renegotiate its contract with the incinerator to lower the price it pays the authority for steam.

In the meantime, authority officials said the incinerator would use its steam production to generate electricity, which it uses to operate the plant and sell to PPL.

Electricity sales have been generating about $200,000 a month this year, and are budgeted to bring in about $5 million annually when the plant is fully operational.

The incinerator makes money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale. So far this year, the plant's revenues from all sources has been about $1.2 million a month.

At that rate, the plant is losing an estimated $1 million monthly compared with what it was budgeted to earn This is primarily due to a botched and incomplete $80 million renovation that left the plant capable of operating at only two-thirds of its design capacity of 800 tons of trash daily.

http://blog.pennlive.com/midstatebuzz/2007/04/whats_the_no_1_issue.html

What's the No. 1 issue?
Posted by PennLive.com April 20, 2007 06:44AM
Categories: Election, Harrisburg City Council

Residents of Harrisburg: Council candidates have spoken at numerous debates over the past month. Each has shared views on the major issues facing Harrisburg.

But as a voter and city resident, which one ranks number one for you?

What's the No. 1 issue facing Harrisburg?*
Eugenia Smith: Incinerator/Budget
Pat Stringer: Crime
Susan Brown Wilson: Budget
Lee Bigelow: People leaving the city
Calobe Jackson Jr: Incinerator
Brad Koplinski: Relationship between council and administration
Kia Hansard: Fiscal responsibility
Gloria Martin-Roberts: Fiscal accountability

Who do you agree with? Is there another more-pressing issue? Add your comments below!

*Information from MAC candidates' debate, March 13, 2007

Comments
Cat1952 says...

I agree with Ms. Wilson, Mrs. Roberts, and Ms. Hansard. The Budget, and Fiscal accountability, and responsibility is number one on the list. How a "City" the size of Harrisburg, fines itself in a $14,000,000 hole is tight roping on mismanagement. One has to ask, "Where is that Money"? Posted on 04/25/07 at 9:04PM kewlgar4life says...

I would have to ask the city , thus far has council failed you in keeping your eyes open to what is going on? Secondly, Ms. Wilson and Ms. Gloria Martin-Payne, have kept Harrisburg up to par with the underhanded business going on with a few of Reeds team. So, your problem will be solve keep the old and forget the new, Eugenia Smith, Calobe Jackson, and Hansard are probably good but hey Harrisburg "it's not broke" so lets keep the same team we have working there butts off for us in Harrisburg. We would have been blindsided with the incinterator, artifacts, and smoking issues if REEDS team would get in.

Susan Wilson and Gloria Martin-Payne I hope you too get to keep your seats or maybe one of you could switch with Wanda Williams!

Posted on 04/26/07 at 4:05PM Midtownrez says...

I love this city. I have chosen to live in this city. I want to stay in this city. We need more open and transparent government, specifically from the Mayor's office. Gloria Martin-Roberts and Susan Wilson and Dan Miller have asked the tough questions about the budget. How did the administration get us into a $14,000,000 hole? We have not heard the answer to that question. Only that the council is out of control. Someone is out of control but it is not the council.

What do I think the #1 issue should be this election? Fiscal responsibility and an open and transparent government. I want to know where my tax dollars are going.

Posted on 05/08/07 at 4:51PM

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117704316364650.xml&coll=1

7 City Council hopefuls stake out positions
Friday, April 20, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

This was debate week in the hotly contested race for Harrisburg City Council.

The seven Democrats had a rare, four-day opportunity to go before the public and air their views of the city and take stands on the issues.

However, the series of four candidates forums, culminating last night with an event held by the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP, featured little in the way of candidate-on-candidate discussion.

At the NAACP forum, the seven Democrats seeking three party nominations in the May 15 primary took turns answering questions and making statements, but rarely addressed each other.

At least they were all in the same room at the Neighborhood Center of the United Methodist Church. A three-day forum held this week at the Midtown Scholar Book Store separated the candidates on successive nights.

First-term incumbents Susan Brown Wilson and Gloria Martin-Roberts appeared Monday, and challengers Kia Hansard and former city Councilwoman Patricia Stringer took the stage Wednesday.

The team backed by Mayor Stephen R. Reed -- Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith -- skipped the Midtown Scholar event.

Their campaign claimed an apparent conflict of interest of the host, bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse, who is a defendant in a court case brought by Reed against the City Council over its appointments to the Harrisburg Authority.

A Republican, D. Lee Bigelow Jr., also participated in the forums but has since been removed from the ballot through a successful petition challenge.

Issues old and new:

At all of the events, Harrisburg's budget crisis and the city's troubled trash incinerator came up time and again.

Virtually all the candidates vowed to closely monitor the budget to avoid a repeat of last year's $13.8 million shortfall. Many seemed resigned that despite a botched $80 million overhaul, the incinerator must be fixed to make it profitable.

There were moments when candidates seemed to break new ground on issues.

In touting a need for more neighborhood development, Martin-Roberts railed against Restaurant Row, calling downtown's restaurants, bars and nightclubs "loud, lewd" and overrun with "drunks."

"There's a lot of drinking going on, and a lot of fighting going on," she said. "How many of you are going to take your children downtown on a Friday evening?"

Wilson suggested that Harrisburg's decline began in the 1980s, saying that's when people, businesses and industry left in droves.

Reed has long contended that the city already was one of the country's most distressed by the time he took over in 1982. Wilson seemed to deny that much progress has taken place.

"I haven't seen one big business come back into the city," she said. "You haven't had a government that has really worked for you for the last 20 years."

Wilson added that she would do away with or sharply curtail Harrisburg's tax abatement for new homes and buildings, a program designed to spur development.

"I am not going to be approving of creating additional financial burden on the backs of any of you, including myself," she said.

3 have Reed support:

Hansard, removed by Dauphin County Court from the elected city school board during the struggle between that board and the appointed Board of Control, aligned herself with current council members who oppose Reed.

"I want to continue the fight that's been started," she said.

Stringer, who served on the council from 2000 to 2004, cited her vote as the lone dissenter to the botched incinerator renovation as her shining moment.

"Now I am so happy I did not vote for that," she said. She promised to remain independent-minded, but not disagreeable.

"I can work with anybody," she said. "Respect is the most important thing in getting things done."

Members of the Reed team said their willingness to work with each other and the mayor would mean real progress for Harrisburg.

"I am neither a roadblock nor a rubber stamp," said Smith, a city schools administrator. "We need the bickering and the fighting to stop, and keep Harrisburg moving."

Koplinski, who was regional campaign manager for 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, blamed the current council for allowing a disagreement with Reed over a $3.3 million difference in a proposed budget loan to result in staff layoffs and service reductions.

He said the Reed team would deliver better two-way communication between the two branches to avoid such disputes.

Jackson, president of the school Board of Control, touted his management experience as a U.S. Postal Service superintendent and a senior official with the U.S. Census Bureau.

"To be completely in charge of a post office means you can handle most anything," he said.

Jackson added that at 76, he's old enough to remember when Harrisburg had 90,000 residents and nary a vacant lot, and would work to make it that way again.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1176956708164440.xml&coll=1

Incinerator deal nears completion
Thursday, April 19, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority, which owns the city's troubled trash incinerator, is about two weeks away from reaching a long-term agreement with a New Jersey waste company to operate the plant, officials said last night.

Authority executive director Bob Ambrose said the agency is still negotiating a 10- to 20-year plant lease with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J.

Under the tentative deal, Covanta would provide immediate financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to run efficiently and turn a profit.

The talks began March 29, after the authority selected Covanta, which has been running the plant since Jan. 2, as the long-term operator.

Authority officials had hoped to have the deal ready for approval last night, but the contract was removed from the agenda.

"That was our target to get it done, but we didn't quite get there," Ambrose said.

Despite the delay, authority board chairman John Keller and vice chair Fred Clark said there were no major stumbling blocks and expressed confidence that the deal would be completed in the coming weeks.

Covanta officials did not attend last night's meeting.

The long-term deal is seen as crucial because it would allow Covanta to begin work on the plant's incomplete third burner, a three- to sixth-month job. Covanta then would correct design flaws in the two operating burners, notably inadequate ash-handling and air-heating systems that clog and break down.

The work would be done so that at least two of the plant's three burners would be available, and the incinerator could continue burning 500 tons of trash daily.

If all goes according to plan, the incinerator could reach its designed capacity of 800 tons of trash daily by the end of the year, officials said.

The plant needs to consistently operate at at least 90 percent of its design capacity to turn a profit.

The incinerator makes money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale.

The plant has been losing an estimated $1 million per month because of a botched and incomplete $80 million renovation, which was halted last year when the contractor, Barlow Projects Inc., ran out of money, officials said.

Under the proposed deal, the authority would pay Covanta a monthly operation fee of about $850,000, and the contract would include profit sharing if the plant reaches performance targets, officials have said. All the fees paid to Covanta would come from the incinerator's revenues.

Ambrose said the authority also is trying to negotiate financing for this year's payments on the incinerator's combined $228 million in debt as part of the Covanta deal.

The debt payments range from $13 million to $16 million annually, and with the incinerator still losing millions, the authority will not have the money to make the payments later this year, Ambrose said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/04/deal_to_complete_and_operate_h.html

Deal to finish and operate Harrisburg's incinerator remains weeks away
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News April 18, 2007 20:48PM
Categories: Breaking News, Dauphin County, Environment, Government, Local government, Midstate

The Harrisburg Authority, which owns the city's troubled trash incinerator, is still about two weeks away from reaching a long-term agreement with a New Jersey waste company to operate the plant, officials said Wednesday night.

Authority executive director Bob Ambrose said the city utility agency is still negotiating a 10- to 20-year plant lease with Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J.

Under the deal, Covanta would provide immediate financing for $25 million in plant upgrades necessary for the incinerator to run efficiently and turn a profit.

The talks began March 29, after the authority selected Covanta, which has been running the plant since Jan. 2, as the long-term operator.

Authority officials had hoped to have the deal completed and ready for approval for Wednesday night's meeting, but the contract was removed from the agenda.

"That was our target to get it done, but we didn't quite get there," Ambrose said.

Despite the delay, authority board Chairman John Keller and Vice Chairman Fred Clark said there were no major stumbling blocks and expressed confidence that the deal would be completed in the coming weeks.

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City authority ruling rests with judge
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The makeup of the Harrisburg Authority board is in the hands of a Commonwealth Court judge.

An attorney for the Harrisburg City Council argued yesterday that the council's three appointments to the authority that oversees Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator should be seated immediately.

Such a move would overturn a temporary injunction granted Feb. 27 in Dauphin County Court that kept Mayor Stephen R. Reed's appointments in place and the council's at bay.

Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner said she would begin considering the case yesterday, but gave no indication when she would rule.

Meanwhile, the Harrisburg Authority is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. today in its offices at Front and Market streets.

The authority last month selected Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the incinerator's long-term operator. The board is negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta that would include financing for $25 million in plant upgrades.

Royce Morris, the council's attorney, said Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter overstepped when he granted the temporary injunction Feb. 27 and again when he extended the injunction on May 29 without an additional hearing.

Kleinfelter's temporary injunction barred the council's three appointments from taking seats on the five-member authority board after the council voted Feb. 20 to override a veto by Reed and appoint its own members.

Thomas A. Leonard of Philadelphia, representing Reed and the authority, said Kleinfelter followed procedure, preventing possible "irreparable harm" by a transition to new members.

Leonard said one of the council's appointees, Eric Papenfuse, went to the authority the day after his appointment asking that a special meeting be held on a Sunday.

Leonard said Pennsylvania law prevents council actions from taking effect for 20 days, meaning Papenfuse had no standing or status as a board member at the time.

Noting that a county court hearing on a permanent injunction is set for May 4, Leonard said there's no reason for Commonwealth Court to intercede.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/04/commonwealth_court_to_rule_on.html

Court to rule on Harrisburg Authority membership
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News April 17, 2007 16:05PM
Categories: Breaking News, Courts, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate, Politics

The makeup of the Harrisburg Authority board is now in the hands of a Commonwealth Court judge.

An attorney for the City Council argued Tuesday that the council's three appointees to the authority that oversees Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator should be immediately seated on the board.

Such a move would overturn a temporary injunction granted Feb. 27 in Dauphin County Court that kept Mayor Stephen R. Reed's appointments in place and the council's picks at bay.

Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner said she would consider the case later today but gave no indication on when she would rule.

Meanwhile, the Harrisburg Authority is scheduled to hold its next meeting at 6 tonight.

Last month the authority selected Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the incinerator's long-term operator. The board is now in the process of negotiating a 10- to 20-year contract with Covanta that would include financing for $25 million in upgrades needed for the plant to run efficiently.

Royce Morris, an attorney for the City Council, said Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter erred and overstepped when he granted the temporary injunction on Feb. 27 and again when he extended the injunction on May 29 without an additional hearing.

Kleinfelter's temporary injunction barred the council's three appointees from taking seats on the five-member authority board after council voted Feb. 20 to override a veto by Reed and appoint its own members.

"We have been denied due process throughout this," Morris said.

But Thomas Leonard of Philadelphia, representing Reed and the authority, said Kleinfelter followed procedure in issuing the injunction, preserving the status quo on the board and preventing possible "irreparable harm" by a transition to new members.

Leonard said the case is proceeding normally in county court, where a hearing on a permanent injunction has been set for May 4, adding that there's no reason for Commonwealth Court to intercede.

"We have some major decisions facing this municipal authority," Leonard said, referring to the incinerator project. "To make a decision (superseding the county court ruling) might well cause irreparable harm."

Leonard cited the actions of one of the council's appointees, Eric Papenfuse, who he said showed up at the authority offices the day following his appointment demanding reams of documents and ordering that an emergency meeting be held on a Sunday.

Leonard said Papenfuse did this despite the fact that Pennsylvania's Third Class City Code prevents council actions from taking effect for 20 days, meaning Papenfuse had no standing or status as a board member at the time.

He wasn't waiting the 20 days," Leonard said. "They tried to act immediately to take control."

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117643110538340.xml&coll=1

Candidates' night provokes debate
Friday, April 13, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Is it an unbiased, informative candidates' forum, or a partisan trap for Mayor Stephen R. Reed's slate running for Harrisburg City Council?

That's the debate surrounding a proposed city council candidates' night set for 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1519 N. Third St.

The public event is being organized and moderated by bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse, who is a defendant in a court case brought by Reed against City Council over its appointments to the Harrisburg Authority.

Papenfuse was one of three council appointees to the five-member authority board, which owns the city's trash incinerator and was the source of funds for Reed's artifact purchases.

Reed said this week that with Papenfuse the driving force behind the candidates' night and his bookstore as the venue, there's little hope for a fair shake.

"This is a set-up from word one, and it's not even a clever one," Reed said of the event. "It's a supposedly impartial event on his property, under his rules -- and he's the moderator."

As a result, a spokesman for the "Reed Team" of city council candidates -- Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith -- said the slate would not attend the forum Tuesday evening.

Instead, the Reed candidates have scheduled an invitation-only neighborhood discussion at a private residence in Bellevue Park for the same time, campaign officials said.

In addition, the three Reed candidates will participate in a public candidates' night sponsored by the Greater Harrisburg Area National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. That event is 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Neighborhood Center of the United Methodist Church, 1801 N. Third St.

Papenfuse accused Reed of trying to shelter the candidates from tough questions. He offered to step down as moderator for the Reed Team portion of the three-night program.

"This is a big excuse," Papenfuse said. "It's a red herring. The only reason they should feel threatened is if they are afraid of answering tough questions."

Papenfuse said he's hopeful the Reed candidates will attend. He said he's been reaching out to the candidates, and he and others have been pressuring Bellevue Park residents to cancel their event and come to the Midtown Scholar forum.

"Our event is about informing the public and allowing the public to ask questions," he said.

Papenfuse said Monday's portion would feature the two incumbents in the May 15 Democratic primary race -- one-term councilwomen Gloria Martin-Roberts and Susan Brown Wilson. Wednesday's portion would include two other Democrats, ousted elected school board member Kia Hansard and former city Councilwoman Patricia Stringer.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8154 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/04/debate_erupts_over_city_counci.html

Debate erupts over City Council candidates' night set for city bookstore
Posted by John Luciew/The Patriot-News April 12, 2007 14:49PM
Categories: Breaking News, Dauphin County, Government, Local government, Midstate, Patriot-News, Politics

Is it an unbiased, informative candidates' forum, or a partisan "trap" for Mayor Stephen R. Reed's slate running for Harrisburg City Council?

That's the debate surrounding a proposed City Council candidates' night set for 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1519 N. Third St.

The public event is being organized and moderated by bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse, who remains a defendant in an ongoing court case brought by Reed against the City Council over the body's appointments to the Harrisburg Authority.

Papenfuse was one of three council appointees to the five-member authority board, which owns the city's troubled trash incinerator and was the source of funds for Reed's artifact purchases.

Reed said this week that with Papenfuse the driving force behind the candidates' night and his bookstore as the venue, there's little hope for a fair shake.

"This is a setup from word one, and it's not even a clever one" Reed said of the event. "It's a supposedly impartial event on his property, under his rules -- and he's the moderator."

As a result, a spokesman for the "Reed Team" of City Council candidates -- Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith -- said the slate would not attend its portion of the midtown forum, set for Tuesday evening.

Instead, the Reed candidates have scheduled an invitation-only neighborhood discussion at a private residence in Bellevue Park for the same time, campaign officials said.

In addition, the three Reed candidates will participate in another public candidates' night sponsored by the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP. That event is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Neighborhood Center of the United Methodist Church, 1801 N. Third St.

For his part, Papenfuse accused Reed of trying to shelter the candidates from "tough" questions, He offered to step down as moderator for the Reed Team portion of the three-night program.

"This is a big excuse," Papenfuse said. "It's a red herring."

COMMENTS

CD3 says...

Amazing, the city council "Reed Team" want to lead the city, but won't even attend a public debate. Aren't council Meeting public, how are they going to deal with the entire city, if they can't deal with one man and the public.

Please tell us who the invitations went to for the Reed Team discussion.

Posted on 04/12/07 at 5:47PM

ldwolflee says...

How fair is the naacp for not inviting me? The reed team not only illegally wishes to push me off the ballot, but, is affraid of fair debate you all siken me and democracy is truely dead in this city. Shame on you Mayor Reed there is no excuse.

Posted on 04/12/07 at 9:08PM

northphil says...

i love it. if we think vera white cuts you off during the council meeting, if these jerks get in, only the chosen will have an opportunity to speak. it is clear, the reed team will mean in effect that the mayor is king, he will run the school district the city council and the mayor's office. if folks think that is good, then vote 4 the reed team, not only will we get the wild west museum, we will buy all the toys reed did not have when he was growing up. by this action, the reed team has showed the community that they will hurt their mommas if reed says so. if they are afraid to show up at a candidates' night because some of the people there are not reed's supporters, then they will only represent reed supporters if elected and not represent all of the people. good reason not to vote for brad koplinsky; eugenia smith and calobe jackson and even greater reason to vote and bring a friend to vote for, gloria roberts, susan wilson and kia hansard.

Posted on 04/12/07 at 11:48PM

truthwiz says...

The state of democracy is in question in the city of Harrisburg especially when you there is a clear appearance of a rouge system in place.

The Election process is to be open and fair to anyone with a desire to serve their community. It should never be controlled by anyone party, group or individuals who believe they have a right to stay in power. Power is and does corrupt and warp one's mind; it is obvious that the Reed Team's leader, handler and sponsor will resort to any means necessary to maintain control and power over the citizens of Harrisburg; this is scary!

This is a form of control ( Hitler) that no one individual should ever have over a body of people. So, Harrisburg... what do you believe is at risk if the current members of council are re-elected? What do you believe is at risk if current members of the Harrisburg authority are replaced with the members that your council selected? Based on those two things there is obliviously some underlying issues that require investigation. What are they afraid the people will find out?

As for the Reed Team don't place to much of your time worrying about them, they are running around Harrisburg without the ability to articulate the issues of the city, people or neighborhoods.

Posted on 04/12/07 at 11:59PM

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GREAT HARRISBURG WESTERN AUCTION
Huge collection of artifacts herded for drive to Dallas
Huge collection of artifacts readied for move to Dallas
Saturday, April 07, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's Western artifacts will soon ride off into the sun set aboard an armored tractor-trailer driven by armed and bonded security guards.

Next month, the estimated 10,000 Western and American Indian items collected by Mayor Stephen R. Reed for a now-canceled museum, will be headed back to the West, where they will be cleaned, photographed and cataloged for sale at a Dallas auction in October.

For now, however, the vast collection is stacked to the rafters of a city storage facility that is wired with an alarm system and kept secret for security.

"This is huge, the amount of stuff that's here," said Jeb Stuart, a city consultant in charge of coordinating the artifacts' sale by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

Stuart, along with other city staffers familiar with and fond of the collection, expressed sadness to see it go and disappointment that it will never be displayed in Harrisburg.

"The fact that all of this is in Harrisburg is astounding," Stuart said. "Unfortunately, it's going to be scattered to the wind. My personal opinion is, it is a great loss to the city."

Faced with the need to fight a city fiscal crisis, Reed agreed to sell the $8 million collection, which he purchased using revenue from the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator and other utilities. The auction proceeds will be used to reduce a budget deficit that piled up last year.

Reed's vision of a Wild West museum that would re-create Tombstone, Ariz., circa 1881, with a display of artifacts including the wooden gates of the OK Corral, became a favorite target of critics.

It was the $13.8 million budget shortfall for 2006 and the need to pay back a $7.2 million bailout loan, however, that finally shot down his museum plans.

"He is very much a pragmatist," Stuart said of Reed. "Obviously, the die is cast because of the budget. But the mayor had a good concept. It would have worked well with the Civil War Museum because it's the next chapter. It would be a natural progression."

Allure of Earp and Holliday:

A team of experts at Heritage Auction will review and photograph the items, assembling a full-color, glossy, 600-page catalog for the sale.

Reed said he will be in Dallas to introduce the collection before bidding starts the week of Oct. 22.

He declined to guess how much the collection would bring but said reserve, or minimum, prices would be set for the most valuable pieces, notably items related to Wyatt Earp, the soft-spoken, gun-toting deputy U.S. marshal, and his partner, gambler Doc Holliday.

Reed has said his Earp and Holliday collections are so prized and extensive that Kevin Costner, who portrayed Earp in a 1994 film -- and who also is a Western collector -- once offered to double what Reed had spent on the artifacts.

Gary Hendershott, Heritage Auction's consignment director, has called the auction a mega-event and predicted the collection would dazzle the estimated 400 bidders expected to attend.

"I think it's a collection of great historical importance and great cultural experience," he said.

And there is a lot of it.

Dozens of wagons and saddles, saloon items, medicine bottles, Indian art, an entire teepee, a stuffed buffalo, clothes, furniture, fences and even trees are jammed into storage.

The most valuable artifacts are those that can be tied to a specific person, place or event, Stuart said. Harrisburg has dozens of items related to Earp, Holliday, Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley, and to the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral with the renegade Clanton gang, among other notable historical figures and events.

"I'm not sure anyone realizes the scope of this and what value has been generated," Stuart said. "You cannot help but be impressed when you see the magnitude."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117574173627660.xml&coll=1

STATE OF HARRISBURG ADDRESS
In crisis, Reed focuses on city's brighter side
Thursday, April 05, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Mayor Stephen R. Reed spent 63 minutes and 6,407 words chronicling Harrisburg's strides in economic development, housing, education, infrastructure and recreation.

But Reed had little to say in yesterday's annual State of the City address about the darker side of what he says was one of the roughest years in his quarter-century as mayor.

There was nothing about his court clashes with members of the elected school board and City Council. Not a word about last year's $13.8 million budget deficit and just one phrase alluding to the 38 staff members laid off to cut costs.

Reed reduced the persistent troubles at the city's trash incinerator -- a plant that underwent $80 million in renovations only to remain incomplete and ineffective -- to a few, mostly positive references.

And the mayor brushed off his bruising battles with City Council with a joke about "rough and tumble city politics."

Afterward, Reed said his annual address about the city's future was not the time -- and the collection of regional movers and shakers assembled by the Harrisburg Regional Chamber was not the audience -- for a downbeat speech.

"I think people are there to hear about the progress of the city, and we are in a boom period," he said. "It's all positive. Everything is on an upward swing here, except for local politics."

But Councilman Dan Miller, a frequent Reed critic who was seen slipping out of the Farm Show Complex banquet hall before Reed took the podium, said the mayor missed a golden opportunity to address the failings of the incinerator and its resulting stranglehold on the city budget.

"I think the No. 1 issue for the city is the incinerator," Miller said. "I have been waiting since September to hear a comprehensive, viable plan for the plant. There was a golden chance for him to do that today."

Reed said after the speech that the incinerator is well on its way to turning a profit now that Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., has been selected as the plant's long-term operator.

Reed said the 10- to 20-year contract being negotiated with Covanta would include financing for $25 million in plant upgrades, as well as money to cover this year's payments on $228 million in debt tied to the incinerator.

Reed predicted that the plant would be "humming" once the improvements are completed this year.

"Then you are at design capacity, and you have the cash flow that was part of the original plan," he said.

Reed said he was determined to use the "bully pulpit" of his speech to counter the negativity of last year and get out a positive message about Harrisburg.

"We are moving forward with a level of progress that is unprecedented in the city's history," he said. "That was the message today."

Reed reported that 1,967 building permits representing $158.4 million in development were issued last year. That brings the total growth under Reed's 25-year watch to $4.14 billion, he said.

Projects headlining this year's list included a $74 million academic tower for Harrisburg University, which is under construction at Fourth and Market Streets, as well as two downtown hotels planned for the opposite ends of the 200 block of State Street.

But absent from the speech was the announcement of any new major projects.

Reed used last year's address to unveil the details of his Southern Gateway expansion project. That plan, still on the drawing table, has the potential to nearly double the size of downtown, increasing access to underdeveloped land by extending Third Street to Paxton Street.

Reed repeatedly referred to his long tenure as an "era." In a separate interview, Reed said he has given no thought to calling it a career after his current term is up in two years.

"I'm not thinking about it," he said. "There are some people who are thinking about it for me, and not in positive terms. This is a job to eat, sleep and do all the time. You've got to be totally committed, and you have to be in it for the long term. These [accomplishments] don't happen overnight."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1175477109300250.xml&coll=1

Both sides claim legal right to be on authority board
The makeup of the authority board is crucial as members must negotiate and approve a long-term, multimillion-dollar contract with Covanta to operate the incinerator.
Monday, April 02, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Will the real Harrisburg Authority board please stand up?

With a judge's injunction threatening to expire, an ongoing court case and mounting appeals over appointments to the board, it's confusing keeping track of who is on and who is off the Harrisburg Authority board.

The uncertainty came to a head last week when Erica Bryce, one of three challenged appointments to the authority board made by the City Council, showed up at a meeting just as the authority board was about to vote on a long-term operator for the city's troubled incinerator.

Bryce, reading a statement, called on the board to take no action at the meeting.

Bryce said she and fellow appointees James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse were legal members of the authority board but weren't included in the session.

Bryce said that because lawyers defending the City Council's appointments had appealed the case to Commonwealth Court, that action superseded an injunction granted by Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter.

The injunction has kept Bryce, Ellison and Papenfuse off the board since Feb. 28.

Authority solicitor Bruce Foreman advised the authority board members to continue the meeting and vote.

The three-member board did just that, selecting Covanta Energy of Fairfield, N.J., as the incinerator operator and opening negotiations with the company on a 10- to 20-year lease of the plant.

But the questions surrounding the makeup of the authority board remain.

As a countermeasure to the City Council's appeal to Commonwealth Court, lawyers for the Harrisburg Authority and Mayor Stephen R. Reed filed a motion last week before Kleinfelter to preserve the status quo and keep the board's membership intact.

The board's members are chairman John Keller, vice chairman Fred Clark and secretary Leonard House.

Kleinfelter granted the authority's petition and extended his injunction, effectively freezing the board's membership. But that ruling came a day after the authority board voted to hire Covanta.

According to City Council attorney Royce Morris, that makes Wednesday's vote illegal.

"The rightful board members are the appointees of City Council," he said. "The vote was not a legal vote."

Morris also complained that Kleinfelter issued his ruling without a hearing or a chance for the council's attorneys to respond.

"That's unprecedented," Morris said. "That's very troubling."

Morris would not discuss what legal action, if any, he would take next.

In the court case, Reed has charged that the five council members who overrode his veto of legislation asserting council's power to appoint members to city agencies were violating Harrisburg's voter-approved charter.

Kleinfelter, citing a "high potential for irreparable harm," granted a 30-day injunction barring the council's three appointees to the Harrisburg Authority from taking office while the larger case on council's appointment powers was decided.

Kleinfelter also ruled that the council's appointments were illegal because the board didn't wait 20 days as required by city ordinance to name them. Instead, the council voted on the appointments immediately after overriding Reed's veto on Feb. 20.

Foreman said even a lifting of Kleinfelter's injunction would not "cure" the problems surrounding the timing of the council's appointments. He said the council would have to reappoint Bryce, Ellison and Papenfuse if the courts decide the council has the power to do so.

Morris disputes that, saying there was no need to wait 20 days for council to vote, merely for the appointments to become official.

The makeup of the authority board is crucial as members must negotiate and approve a long-term, multimillion-dollar contract with Covanta, a move that is expected to put the incinerator on a path toward profitability.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Take the time to recycle trash
Friday, March 30, 2007

It was with great dismay that I read the March 7 article, "Use it, then lose it," which was in the Business section. It was about "disposable" food containers.

The article quoted a spokeswoman as saying, "We're in a rush. It's the convenience factor ... it's not convenient to have to remember to bring your dirty dishes home."

What a bunch of spoiled brats we have become. We say we are "too busy" to worry about containers, so we just throw them away? Maybe we're not too busy; maybe we're lazy.

What's going to happen when we drown in our trash? Will we be too lazy to worry about environmental hazards? Plastics come from fossil fuels. It's not about convenience. It's about landfill problems, incinerators and wars with nations that have fossil fuels.

Maybe we should spend that precious time worrying about consuming less to curtail our reliance on fossil fuel, stewarding the Earth, or just, heaven forbid, carrying a dirty container home.

-- JULIE MOFFITT, Harrisburg

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Incinerator owner, Covanta to negotiate
Thursday, March 29, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's trash incinerator might finally be on a path to profitability.

The Harrisburg Authority yesterday voted to open negotiations with Covanta Energy on a 10- to 20-year lease of the plant that's expected to increase the incinerator's efficiency and maximize its revenues.

Under the deal, which officials said could be finalized next month, the Fairfield, N.J., waste company would provide low-interest financing for up to $25 million in upgrades needed for the plant to run efficiently.

The company also would cover payments on the $228 million in debt for the duration of the lease. The payments range from $13 million to $16 million annually.

"We believe the plant can be a success," Covanta Vice President Paul E. Stauder said. "We've stated that from Day One. We are happy to be part of that success."

With the plant continuing to lose about $1 million a month, authority Chairman John Keller said he wants to see Covanta get started on the upgrades as soon as possible.

He said he hopes a final agreement with the company can be in place by the authority's next meeting, set for April 18.

"Covanta has shown that they are capable of performing the job," Keller said, adding the plant's revenues have climbed each month since Covanta took over on an interim basis Jan. 2.

"I like what they bring to the table," he said

Keller said the deal would be for 10 years, with an option for another 10.

The authority would pay Covanta a monthly operation fee of about $850,000, and the deal would include profit sharing with Covanta if the plant reaches performance targets.

All the fees paid to Covanta would come from the incinerator's revenues, Keller said. The incinerator makes its money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale.

In return, Covanta would invest money to improve the plant, authority officials said.

The incinerator remains incomplete and inefficient despite an $80 million renovation last year. One of the plant's three burners remains shuttered, and design flaws make it a challenge to keep the other two units burning full-bore.

Authority director Bob Ambrose said Covanta's plan is to fix the plant's inoperable third burner first, a three- to sixth-month job.

Covanta then would correct design flaws in the two operating burners, notably inadequate ash-handling and air heating systems that clog and break down.

Ambrose said the units would be fixed one at a time so the plant can continue operating at its current 500-ton capacity. If all goes according to plan, the incinerator could reach its designed capacity of 800 tons of trash daily by the end of the year, he said.

The plant needs to consistently operate at at least 90 percent of its design capacity to turn a profit.

In selecting Covanta, the three-member authority board bypassed a proposal from a second waste firm, Wheelabrator Technologies of New Hampshire.

Wheelabrator had criticized the authority's two-week window for companies to submit proposals and had asked for another 60 to 90 days to prepare a comprehensive package. Authority officials refused, citing the plant's ongoing losses.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

http://blog.pennlive.com/midstatebuzz/2007/03/city_council_meeting_032707.html

Harrisburg City Council meeting 03/27/07
Posted by PennLive.com March 28, 2007 03:06AM
Categories: Harrisburg City Council, Harrisburg Incinerator, Video

The city's troubled trash incinerator dominated the conversation at Harrisburg City Council's meeting on March 27.

Public works chair Linda D. Thompson, whose committee devotes the third Thursday of every month to be given an update on the Harrisburg incinerator project, said in her report that any company interested in long-term lease or purchase of the facility needed to turn in a request for proposal (RP) to the Harrisburg Authority by March 23.

"Council members had concerns about whether the level playing field was fair for other operators who expressed interest in the operation," Thompson said. On the top of this list was the time given to submit the request for proposal, which she said is usually 30 days for governmental projects.

"This project's completion is of great urgency due to the enormous fiscal impact that it has had on the taxpayers, [but] it does not negate the fact that we need to assure that the process for bids is open, fair and competitive to all that desire to compete," Thompson said.

Thompson says another company interested in submitting a proposal was not given the same access to the incinerator that Covanta has been given.

**Update: Wednesday afternoon, The Patriot-News reported the Harrisburg Authority chose to open negotiations with Covanta for a 10- to 20- year lease of the incinerator.

Excerpts from Thompson's lengthy public works report:

[video]

Say what?

Like many recent council sessions, the March 27 meeting had its moment of disarray and disagreement between council members, particularly between Thompson and President Vera Jean-White.

Take a look:

[video]

Better luck next time?

In her second public works committee report from a meeting held 3/20/07, Thompson said the committee discussed snow removal problems with Director of Public Works Jim Close, and they are working together to construct a plan for future situations. Close says it takes two days to completely rid the city of 13 inches of snow, and suggestions will be taken from the committee as well as the community on how the city can best clean up the streets.

Also, if you experience a problem with your trash pick-up schedule, Thompson asks city residents to immediately call Close at 236-4802.

Take your cigarette outside, leave your party inside

Council has sent two bills back to committee to be reworked in an attempt to give the city a smoking ban and noise ordinance.

The Patriot-News reports amendments introduced last night would exempt unionized city employees from the smoking ban and would further define terms used in the noise ordinance.

Coming up

Council member Wanda D. Williams will hold a special committee session on Tuesday, April 3, to discuss re-issuing a hefty bond to the Harrisburg Parking Authority.

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Agency to pick operator for incinerator
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

It's decision day on the future of Harrisburg's trash incinerator.

The Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the plant, today is expected to select a long-term operator from between two waste companies submitting proposals to upgrade and run the facility.

Covanta Energy Corp., the Fairfield, N.J., firm that has been running the plant under an interim operating agreement since Jan. 2., and Wheelabrator Technologies of New Hampshire are the companies vying for the contract.

But it might not be much of a competition.

A Harrisburg Authority official described Wheelabrator's bid as a "protest proposal" that criticizes the authority's two-week window for companies to submit bids. Instead, Wheelabrator is asking for another 60 to 90 days to prepare a comprehensive package, he said.

But with the plant continuing to lose about $1 million a month, authority Chairman John Keller said again yesterday that he's not willing to extend the process.

Keller said he would recommend that the three-member authority board select a long-term operator at its 3 p.m. meeting today at the authority's offices at Front and Market streets.

"At this point, we can't afford to wait," Keller said. "We need to move ahead and complete the plant."

Harrisburg's incinerator remains incomplete and inefficient despite an $80 million renovation last year. One of the plant's three burners remains shuttered and design flaws make it a challenge to keep the other two units burning full-bore.

The incinerator makes its money by burning municipal waste from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and then using the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale.

The authority's request for proposals stipulates that the long-term operator would cover all costs of running the incinerator, including financing an estimated $25 million in upgrades that would allow the plant to run efficiently and profitably.

The operator also would cover payments on the $228 million in debt during the length of the lease. The payments range from $13 million to $16 million annually.

As a result, the authority would no longer have to finance the plant improvement work itself, the main obstacle holding up construction.

Any costs to be borne by the authority would be due at the end of the lease and would depend on the length of the lease and how successfully the company operated the plant.

Frank Ferraro, a Wheelabrator vice president, said the authority's two-week deadline was too short a timeline to respond to such a comprehensive and costly proposal request.

He said Wheelabrator's bid provides the authority with various options but does not contain many of the details on price and incinerator technology that authority officials requested.

Keller said Wheelabrator actually was the first waste company authority officials consulted when they began searching for an interim plant operator last October.

Keller said Wheelabrator officials toured the plant and discussed operations with the authority. Keller said Wheelabrator responded with a proposal that was far too costly to consider.

"They wanted 20 cents on the dollar," Keller said. "That wasn't something we could even entertain."

Covanta business manager Daniel J. Caraccio has said his company's three-month's experience running the plant would help it deliver a detailed and accurate proposal to upgrade and operate the plant.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Search for operator of city's incinerator has no takers yet
Thursday, March 22, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority has had what amounts to a "help wanted" sign outside its troubled trash incinerator for the past two weeks.

It requested proposals from waste companies wishing to lease, operate and invest in the three-burner plant on a long-term basis.

But with a Friday deadline looming, the authority has yet to receive any responses to ads placed in papers in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Authority executive director Bob Ambrose said yesterday that there have been no calls from waste companies seeking more information and no requests for plant tours or copies of its designs.

In fact, the only company sure to submit a proposal is Covanta Energy Corp., the Fairfield, N.J., firm that has been running the plant under an interim operating agreement since Jan. 2.

Covanta business manager Daniel J. Caraccio has said his company's three months' experience running the plant would help it deliver the most detailed and accurate proposal.

Part of the problem is there are not that many companies in the waste-to-energy business -- plants that burn waste and use the heat to generate steam and electricity for sale, Ambrose said.

Authority officials said they had spoken to officials at Wheelabrator Inc., a major operator of incinerators in Bucks County and Baltimore. But authority officials said they didn't know whether the company would submit a bid.

"We'll know on Friday," authority vice chairman Fred Clark said.

Some City Council members have criticized the two-week timeline for companies to submit proposals as too short.

But with the underperforming plant losing about $1 million a month, authority officials said it's in the best interests of the city to move quickly.

"If we waited 30, 60, 90 days, I'm sure council would criticize that," Clark said. "The fact of the matter is, we simply cannot afford to wait."

Authority Chairman John Keller said yesterday he's prepared to select a long-term operator at the board's meeting set for 3 p.m. Wednesday.

He added that if the authority gets few or even one proposal, it would make the decision that much simpler.

Authority officials said all proposals would be reviewed by the agency's attorneys and an engineering firm retained to evaluate improvement plans for the plant.

The incinerator remains incomplete and inefficient despite an $80 million renovation last year. One of its three burners remains shuttered and design flaws make it hard to keep the other two units burning full-bore.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Council criticizes burner plans
Friday, March 16, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority has set a two-week window for waste companies to answer its March 8 call for proposals to upgrade, lease and operate its trash incinerator.

Authority executive director Bob Ambrose told the City Council last night that the tight time frame is necessary because the underperforming plant continues to lose about $1 million a month.

But some council members suggested the timetable might be a rush to judgment that favors the current operator, Covanta Energy Corp., the Fairfield, N.J., firm that has been running the plant under an interim agreement since Jan. 2.

"You don't have a level playing field, because they [Covanta] have been playing here for a while," council member Gloria Martin-Roberts said.

Councilwoman Susan Brown Wilson suggested companies be given 60 to 90 days to respond, rather than the authority's March 23 deadline.

But Ambrose said the three-member authority is prepared to award a long-term contract March 28.

Ambrose said that an engineering firm has been retained to evaluate improvement plans for the plant, which remains incomplete and inefficient despite an $80 million renovation last year.

One of the plant's three burners remains shuttered and design flaws make it a challenge to keep the other two units burning full-bore.

"We have to start getting the construction moving," Ambrose said.

The authority's request for proposals stipulates that the operator would cover all costs of running the incinerator, including financing an estimated $25 million in upgrades.

The operator also would cover payments on the $228 million in debt during the length of the lease.

The payments range from $13 million to $16 million annually.

The authority would no longer have to finance the work itself, the main obstacle holding up improvements. Any costs to be borne by the authority would be due at the end of the lease agreement and would depend on the length of the lease and how successfully the company operated the plant.

No company other than Covanta has indicated it would bid for the lease.

In an interview, Covanta business manager Daniel J. Caraccio said his company's experience running the plant would help it deliver the most detailed and accurate proposal.

"We have been here for three months," he said. "We know the plant. We know how to staff it. We know how to run it.

"We understand the waste markets very well. We feel comfortable that we can address their issues."

The plant is processing about 300 tons of trash less than its 800-ton daily capacity, according to Covanta. The plant produces steam and electricity for sale.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Reed fails to get high court to take case against council
Thursday, March 15, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The case of Mayor Stephen R. Reed v. Harrisburg City Council won't be going to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court -- at least not yet.

The state's highest court yesterday issued an order denying Reed's request for "extraordinary relief" that would have resulted in the court taking the case immediately.

The high court ruled that the case should proceed in Dauphin County Court, where it landed last month.

In the case, Reed has charged that the five council members who overrode his veto of legislation asserting council's power to appoint members to city agencies were violating Harrisburg's voter-approved charter.

After a Feb. 28 hearing, Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter agreed.

Citing a "high potential for irreparable harm," he granted a 30-day injunction, barring City Council's three appointees to the Harrisburg Authority from taking office while the case proceeds.

Kleinfelter also ruled that the council's appointments were illegal because the board didn't wait 20 days as required by city ordinance.

Instead, the council voted on the appointments immediately after overriding Reed's veto on Feb. 20.

Attorneys for City Council have appealed Kleinfelter's injunction to Commonwealth Court.

State Supreme Court Justice Thomas G. Saylor dissented in yesterday's order, saying he would have taken the case immediately under an expedited schedule.

"I don't know that anyone would be surprised if it would eventually go up to the Supreme Court," said Bruce Foreman, solicitor for the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency at the heart of the case.

Council members point out they had a legal opinion from city Solicitor Steven Dade clearing the way for their legislation and appointments.

"I have always said the law is on our side," Councilman Dan Miller said. "The Supreme Court's order supports that. They don't think there are urgent issues here."

By exercising those appointment powers, council members said they were elevating themselves to a more collaborative role in city government, rather than serving as a rubber stamp.

The appointments would have given the council a measure of control over the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that oversees the city incinerator, its water and sewer utilities and a fund that Reed has tapped for millions of dollars for artifact purchases.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Council hopefuls share concerns
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's debt and deficits, its economic development and its troubled trash incinerator dominated a City Council candidates forum last night that drew seven Democrats and one Republican.

The candidates' views on issues were similar, but their approaches to getting things done seemed based on their view of the council's proper working relationship with Mayor Stephen R. Reed.

The May 15 Democratic primary pits two incumbents, Susan Brown Wilson and Gloria Martin-Roberts; three Reed-backed challengers, Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith; and two others, ousted elected school board member Kia Hansard and former city Councilwoman Patricia Stringer.

The seven Democrats who attended last night's forum at Linden Terrace, sponsored by the Midtown Square Action Council, are vying for three party nominations.

Donald Bigelow Jr. was the lone Republican candidate at the event.

Among the Democrats, incumbents Martin-Roberts and Wilson painted Harrisburg as a city burdened by debt, beset by deficits and facing a future that hinges uncertainly on the outcome of a botched $80 million overhaul of the incinerator.

The incinerator project underperformed its budget by $14 million last year, and by Reed's admission, it will continue to lose $1 million each month until its third burner is completed and design flaws are fixed.

"We need to get our city back on track and out of debt," Martin-Roberts said.

"We have major fiscal issues in the city, make no mistake about it," Wilson said.

And while both Martin-Robert and Wilson did not apologize for the council's more assertive, even confrontational, role with Reed, they vowed to work with the administration.

The three candidates backed by Reed were more likely to lay some of the city's problems at council's doorstep.

For example, Smith said more communication and better oversight could have headed off the city's surprise $13.8 million deficit last fall.

"We need to check our budget system more frequently," Smith said. "There shouldn't be any surprises."

Jackson warned that a confrontational council could put Harrisburg out of the economic development business, warding off new companies and investors.

"Council is hostile toward development," he said. "We need to encourage development in the city. We need to move forward."

Koplinski said the needs of citizens are being lost in the sparring between the mayor and council.

"The No. 1 thing City Council needs to do is serve the people of Harrisburg. It seems forgotten most of the time."

Stringer, who served one term but didn't run for re-election in 2003, said she would make decisions based on research and good sense.

"I was the only member of City Council who voted 'no' on the incinerator," she said referring to the 2003 decision to borrow $125 million to renovate the plant.

Hansard, who along with three other elected school board members was sued and eventually ousted by Reed's appointed school control board, vowed to serve as a check on the mayor.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Authority seeks operator for trash incinerator
Friday, March 09, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the city's troubled trash incinerator, is looking for a waste company willing to upgrade the plant and operate it into profitability.

That company may or may not be Covanta Energy Corp., the Fairfield, N.J., firm that has been running the plant under an interim operating agreement since Jan. 2.

"We are looking for the company that gives us the best proposal at the lowest cost to the city of Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Authority; that's my dream," authority chairman John Keller said yesterday. "Whether it's Covanta or someone else is yet to be determined."

The authority's request for proposals, issued yesterday, stipulates that the operator would cover all costs of running the incinerator, including financing an estimated $25 million in upgrades needed for the recently renovated plant to run efficiently.

In addition, the operating company would cover payments on the $228 million in debt related to the incinerator during the length of the lease. The payments range from $13 million to $16 million annually.

Interested companies have until March 23 to submit proposals to the authority.

By mandating that the company picked to operate the plant pay for the upgrades as part of a long-term lease deal, the authority would no longer have to finance the work. The financing has been the biggest obstacle holding up plant improvements.

The under-performing plant loses money every month it operates below 90 percent of its daily 800-ton trash-burning capacity. The facility also earns money by generating steam and electricity for sale.

With only two of the plant's three burners operational, the best the incinerator can achieve is 66 percent efficiency. Mayor Stephen R. Reed said this situation is costing the city an estimated $1 million in revenue each month it continues.

A long-term lease with a private operator willing to pay for the upgrades and cover debt payments on the plant would put the incinerator on a path to profitability and remove the prospect of the city and the authority defaulting on bonds used the finance the plant and its first upgrade, officials said.

Keller said any costs to be borne by the authority would be due at the end of the lease agreement and would depend on the length of the lease and how successful the company is at operating the plant.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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FOR SALE
HARRISBURG'S WESTERN ARTIFACT COLLECTION
Thursday, March 08, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

It will be a different kind of Western roundup.

In what a Dallas, Texas, auction house is calling a "mega-event," thousands of American Indian and Western artifacts acquired by Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed will be sold to the highest bidder at a four-day sale set to begin Oct. 22.

"I think it is by far the largest collection of Native American and Western history to come to the market," said Gary Hendershott, the consignment director for Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

"I think it's a collection of great historical importance and great cultural experience," he said. "We are pleased that the city of Harrisburg is willing to release it to the public."

The process of selling the collection, which Reed spent an estimated $8 million in nontax city money to acquire for a never-built Western museum, begins Monday when Hendershott and two historians visit Harrisburg for a three-day examination of the artifacts.

But having reviewed a printed inventory of the collection, Hendershott predicted the collection would dazzle him and the estimated 400 bidders expected to attend the auction in Dallas.

"I think it was selected with a very keen eye toward relevance and importance," Hendershott said of the collection. "Many of the things in the collection are iconic. People will recognize them immediately."

Once Hendershott and his team review the items, work will begin on a full-color glossy catalog that will be 400 to 600 pages long. He said the planned print run is at least 5,000 copies, including 100 in a hardcover collectors' edition.

"We are going to go all out with this catalog," he said.

The collection also will get its own Web site, to be affiliated with the auction house's site, www.ha.com.

The company boasts that more than 60,000 collectors visit its Web site each day as part of 1 million daily hits. The site also has 250,000 collectors registered as Internet bidders.

After next week's visit, the company plans to dispatch about a dozen staffers to crate and ship the artifacts to Dallas, Hendershott said.

Once they arrive there, a team of at least 20 people will clean, categorize, photograph and document the items for display in the catalog and on the Internet.

The Oct. 22-25 auction set for the Hilton Anatole Hotel is being timed with other Dallas events, including fashion week, Hendershott said.

He said the American Indian items would be auctioned separately from the Western artifacts.

Both auctions will be simulcast live on the Web. Some items also will be offered on eBay and listed on at least six other auction Web sites for maximum exposure, he said.

"We are out to get the most value for every item for the city of Harrisburg," Hendershott said. "That's our goal, the best price for every single item."

The firm is cutting its standard fee of 15 percent of the "hammer price" to 5 percent for Harrisburg, Hendershott said. The company will pay all other costs, including insurance, shipping, cataloging and advertising, he said.

Buyers, on the other hand, still would get hit with a 19.5 percent "buyer's premium," which goes to the company.

Reed agreed to sell off the collection, which was purchased using revenue from the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator and other utilities, to help rescue the city from a budget deficit that piled up last year.

The estimated $13.8 million shortfall for 2006 was due primarily to cost overruns for energy and medical insurance and problems with the recently renovated incinerator.

The City Council authorized a $7.2 million loan to cover a portion of the deficit and stipulated that the loan be repaid by the sale of the artifacts and of the Harrisburg Senators baseball team. The city also plans to sell McCormick Island, a 100-acre, undeveloped tract near Interstate 81.

The council gave Reed up to 24 months to sell the artifacts, but members said they would like to see the sale proceed as quickly as possible.

"I'm interested in liquidating the assets and paying back the loan," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said. "The $7 million needs to be paid to Commerce Bank so there is no more burden on taxpayers."

Thompson said the selection of Heritage as the auction house bodes well.

"Heritage is known in the industry as being the best of the best," she said. "They know the artifacts, and I expect them to liquidate our assets quickly. But the progress remains to be seen."

With annual sales exceeding $550 million, Heritage bills itself as the world's largest collectibles auctioneer, featuring paintings, sculpture, coins, jewelry, political memorabilia and rare books and manuscripts.

The house's most recent American Indian auction grossed $3.5 million, including $300,000 for a Sioux book of ledger drawings, $100,000 for a painted Buffalo robe and $20,000 for an Indian tacked Winchester rifle, Hendershott said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Dispute threatens city's charter, Reed says
Dispute about power, Reed, Council foes say
Friday, March 02, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Mayor Stephen R. Reed and Harrisburg City Council have been on the opposite sides of plenty of issues of late.

A feud that simmered over Reed's purchase of museum artifacts, then came to a boil over a ballooning city budget deficit, landed in Dauphin County Court over the council's appointments to the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the city's troubled trash incinerator.

"I am saddened and disappointed by Mayor Reed and his private attorneys who have taken part in suing the council," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said.

But when asked about the roots of the rift, Reed and several council members said the real issues have less to do with board appointments and everything to do with power.

Reed charged that the five council members who overrode his veto of legislation asserting council's appointment powers were trying to tamper with Harrisburg's voter-approved charter, which has been sacrosanct since 1969.

Reed said he's had plenty of disputes with past councils, some even landing in court. But this time, he said, the stakes were higher, as the acrimony threatened the city's strong-mayor form of government, in which more power is vested in the executive branch.

"It's not the low point of mayor-council relations," Reed said. "But this is the first time any City Council has attempted to alter the city charter approved by the voters. You just can't stand by and let that occur."

Reed said any change to the charter must be done through voter referendum, not by council action.

Council members point out that they had a valid legal opinion from city Solicitor Steven Dade clearing the way for their legislation and appointments.

By exercising those appointment powers, council members said they were elevating themselves to a more collaborative role in city government, rather than serving as a rubber stamp.

"It was time to change the guard over there," Thompson said, referring to Reed's artifact spending and an $80 million renovation of the incinerator that the authority says was botched by the contractor.

Council members said the battle for balance would go on, despite a 30-day court injunction barring council's appointees from taking office.

The larger legal case over the constitutionality of the council's appointment powers will proceed in county court. Reed also has filed for emergency relief from the state Supreme Court.

"We are in no way tired, weary or daunted," Thompson said. "We will continue to fight for a balanced representation and a balanced government. A few setbacks we can handle."

Where council members see balance, Reed said he suspects ulterior motives.

Having rejected Reed's pervious three nominees to the Harrisburg Authority, the council had a chance to install a voting majority on the five-member board. Reed described this as an "ominous" prospect because the authority must decide on complicated plans to rescue the incinerator, which Reed said is losing $1 million a month.

The council's attorney, Ronald Katzman, had a more benign view of council's actions, saying it was good-faith effort to appoint three "well-regarded, well-qualified" people.

Two decades ago, the council and Reed squared off over the mayor's efforts to bring baseball to City Island, suing each other over who had the authority to negotiate terms and execute leases for the city-owned stadium.

"The idea of people in public office getting sued in their capacity -- that happens everyday," said Bruce Foreman, solicitor for the Harrisburg Authority.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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COOPERATE
Mayor, council need to get out of court and onto the same page
Thursday, March 01, 2007

Mayor Stephen R. Reed is not helping the city's precarious financial situation by attempting to settle his disagreements with City Council in court.

The mayor and council are sparring over who has the power to appoint members to the Harrisburg Authority, owner of the problem-plagued incinerator that threatens to bankrupt the city.

An $80 million retrofit of the incinerator has proven to be disastrously in complete and dys functional to the tune of a $1 million loss per month.

The mayor man aged to convince Dauphin County Court Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter that the city would face irreparable harm should the three au thority members chosen by council be permitted to take their seats. A wrong or delayed decision "could cripple us financially," the mayor declared, ignoring the fact that it was he and his personally appointed authority members who made the decisions that placed the city in the incredible financial bind in which it now finds itself.

An additional $20 million may be required to get the incinerator capable of operating at full capacity. Without the ability to operate the incinerator's three trash burners at least 90 percent of the time, the facility has no hope of meeting its bond payments and operating costs over the life of the bond.

Further borrowing to pay for the needed repairs still must win approval from council and/or the Dauphin County commissioners. Perpetuating a fight with council really doesn't get the mayor to where he needs to be to move this project toward an acceptable conclusion.

Instead, the mayor needs to suck it up, go before council and take his lumps, and work with council members to put together the best possible arrangement under the circumstances to get this white elephant running at full capacity.

Of course, this controversy is more than simply about the incinerator. For far too long, the authority has operated as if it were the mayor's personal bank, into which he was free to dip without either council's knowledge or consent. He used it to fund his various pursuits, such as the accumulation of millions of dollars worth of artifacts for the National Civil War Museum and his proposed Old West museum.

Council rightly wants to get a handle on that. But if the mayor resists to the end to preserve his power of appointment to the authority, he could well "cripple [the city] financially," as well.

That's unacceptable. Compromise, and looking out for the best interests of the city and its taxpayers, need to be the orders of the day.

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BURNING ISSUE
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator, a thorn in Mayor Stephen R. Reed's side for years, might have helped him win a court victory yesterday against the City Council.

Reed, the only witness in the county court hearing, testified that the poor-performing incinerator is losing $1 million a month and its fate can't be trusted to three Harrisburg Authority members appointed last week by the council.

"It could cripple us financially," Reed said of the possibility of a wrong or delayed decision on the incinerator, which is owned by the authority.

Dauphin County Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter agreed. Citing a "high potential for irreparable harm, he granted a 30-day injunction, barring the appointees from taking office while arguments proceed on the merits of the case over appointment powers.

"We have to have someone in charge, and the status quo is a known commodity," Kleinfelter said, explaining his injunction.

The fact that the incinerator is in deep trouble financially, operationally and technically despite a recent $80 million renovation seemed to work in Reed's favor.

Reed argued that issues surrounding the incinerator are so complicated, multi-layered and problematic that new members would find it impossible to make good, timely decisions.

Ronald Katzman, attorney for the City Council, said such reasoning rewards authority members who approved the plant's flawed designs and hired the contractor, Barlow Projects Inc., that the authority later fired for allegedly botching the job.

"The people who made the mess and created the problem should stay in office? That's what it sounds like to me," Katzman said. He defended the council's appointees -- Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse -- as "well-regarded, well-qualified people."

The legal battle over the five-seat authority comes as it must decide on a $25 million plan to fix the incinerator and choose a long-term operator.

Reed said even he wouldn't appoint three new authority members -- a voting majority -- at this time.

Terms of authority members are staggered so one is replaced each year. However, the board had two vacancies and one member is serving an expired term because the council rejected three Reed nominees.

The lawsuit stems from the council's action last week to override Reed's veto of legislation asserting the council's power to appoint members to city authorities. The council made its three appointments immediately after the override.

Kleinfelter ruled the council's appointments were illegal because the board didn't wait the 20 days required by city ordinance.

Kleinfelter set a 30-day schedule for legal briefs in the full case over the constitutionality of the council's appointment powers.

Reed also has filed for emergency relief from the state Supreme Court.

He contends the council's actions violate the city charter of 1969, while council members assert their appointment powers rest in the state's Municipalities Authorities Act.

"This is not by any means clear under the law," Kleinfelter said.

But not everything was serious. The rare sight of Reed on the witness stand prompted the judge to comment, "There are two 'Your Honors' here."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

HARRISBURG AUTHORITY Q&A

# What is it? A city agency that owns Harrisburg's water and sewer utilities and its trash incinerator.
# Who's on it? Chairman John Keller, Vice-chair Fred Clark and Secretary Leonard House. There are two vacancies.
# What else does it do? Floats municipal bonds to finance public projects and maintains an account that Mayor Stephen R. Reed has tapped to purchase museum artifacts.

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Hearing set in suit on council action
Saturday, February 24, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Dauphin County Court for Mayor Stephen R. Reed's lawsuit to keep the City Council's appointees off the agency that owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator.

The hearing on Reed's petition for an injunction and restraining order to keep the three appointees off of the Harrisburg Authority board is set for 1:30 p.m. before Judge Joseph H. Kleinfelter.

The lawsuit stems from the council's override this week of Reed's veto of legislation asserting the council's power to appoint members to city authorities.

Following the veto override, the council named three people to the five-member Harrisburg Authority board. The appointees are Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse.

The suit also names as defendants the five council members who voted to override Reed's veto: Vice President Susan Brown Wilson and members Dan Miller, Patty Kim, Gloria Martin-Roberts and Linda Thompson. The suit also names the three appointees.

Reed's lawsuit contends the council's attempt to control the appointment process violates the city charter of 1969 and its strong-mayor form of government.

But council members and city solicitor Steven Dade see it another way.

Acting under a legal opinion by Dade, the council passed an ordinance on Jan. 23 taking control of the appointment process.

Both Dade and the agreeing council members contend that the council's appointment powers rest in the state's Municipalities Authorities Act, which states that "the governing body" of the municipality shall appoint the members of the board of the authority.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Reed sues to regain power to appoint
Friday, February 23, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

After his veto didn't work, Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed is trying a lawsuit to keep the City Council's appointees off the city agency that owns Harrisburg's trash incinerator.

In the suit, filed yesterday in Dauphin County Court against the council, Reed is seeking a special injunction and restraining order to keep the three members appointed by the council off of the Harrisburg Authority.

The suit labels the council as "misguided and power-hungry" and calls the council's attempt to nominate and confirm its own appointees a "blatant attempt to disrupt the balance of powers" and "steal from the mayor the power both to appoint and to remove members of boards, commissions and authorities."

Councilman Dan Miller, who led the effort to "take back" the council's appointment powers, called the lawsuit "silly" and the suit's rhetoric "ridiculous."

"I think it's a shame. I think it's unnecessary, and I think it's a waste of money from the city," Miller said.

The lawsuit stems from the council's action this week to override Reed's veto of legislation asserting the council's power to appoint members to city authorities.

After the veto override, the council named three members -- a voting majority -- to the five-member Harrisburg Authority board. The appointees were Erica Bryce, James E. Ellison and Eric Papenfuse.

In addition to the council, the suit names as defendants the five council members who voted to override Reed's veto -- Vice President Susan Brown Wilson and members Miller, Patty Kim, Gloria Martin-Roberts and Linda Thompson. The suit also names the council's appointees to the authority.

"We are being sued by the mayor for volunteering for public service," said Papenfuse, who owns the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. "That is an outrageous act."

Reed was joined in filing the suit by the Harrisburg Authority and Fred Clark, who was ousted from his post as the authority's vice chairman when the City Council appointed the new authority board members.

Reed's lawsuit contends the council's attempt to control the appointment process violates Harrisburg's city charter of 1969 and its strong-mayor form of government.

"The mayor is the sole appointing authority of all departments, boards, commissions, authorities and other offices," the suit states. "The only limitation on the mayor's power to appoint is that certain appointments require the advice and consent of council."

Council members and city solicitor Steven Dade see the matter another way. Acting under a legal opinion by Dade, the council passed an ordinance on Jan. 23 taking control of the appointment process.

Dade and Miller say the council's appointment powers rest in the state's Municipalities Authorities Act, which states the governing body of the municipality shall appoint the members of the board of the authority. Dade wrote in his opinion that case law bolsters this view.

The battle over the future of the Harrisburg Authority comes as the authority must decide on a $19.8 million plan to fix the money-losing incinerator and choose a long-term operator.

Despite a recent $80 million renovation, the incinerator is beset by problems that include an unfinished third burner and inadequate ash-handling and air-heating systems. The flaws reduce the plant's efficiency and contribute to operating deficits.

Also at stake is the future of an authority fund that Reed has tapped for millions of dollars to buy artifacts for The National Civil War Museum and the now-defunct proposed wild West attraction.

In addition, the authority owns Harrisburg's water and sewer utilities.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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3 named to board that runs incinerator
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg City Council last night reshaped the city board that will determine how to complete a multi-million dollar overhaul of Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

Council appointed three members -- a voting majority -- to the five-member Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the incinerator, which serves Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties.

Council also voted, 6-1, to override Mayor Stephen R. Reed's veto of legislation passed last month asserting the council's power to control appointments to the authority board, which has had vacancies for two years.

In addition to the incinerator, the authority owns Harrisburg's water and sewer utilities, which serve several municipalities.

The council voted 5-2 to name businesswoman Erica Bryce and attorney James E. Ellison to the authority board, and it voted 4-2 to appoint bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse to the board.

Council President Vera Jean White and member Wanda R.D. Williams opposed all three appointments, and member Patty Kim joined the two in opposing Papenfuse.

The new members join Chairman John Keller and Leonard House on the board. Council members voted 6-1 against reappointing Vice Chairman Fred Clark.

It was unclear whether Reed plans to veto any or all of the council's appointments. But with five votes needed to override a veto, the only appointment that would appear to be in jeopardy is Papenfuse.

Reed also has hinted at filing a lawsuit contesting the council's power to control the appointments. Council members, bolstered by a legal opinion by city solicitor Steven Dade, argued the powers are clearly stated in the state's Municipality Authorities Act.

"A lawsuit would be unnecessary and wasteful," member Dan Miller said.

The appointments to the authority board come as the board must decide on a $19.8 million plan to fix the money-losing incinerator and choose a long-term operator.

Also at stake is the future of an authority fund that Reed has tapped to the tune of millions of dollars to buy artifacts for the National Civil War Museum and the now-defunct proposed Wild West attraction.

In December, the authority fired incinerator contractor Barlow Projects of Colorado and hired Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., a private waste company, to assess the plant and operate it.

Covanta last week unveiled a $19.8 million estimate for a redesign and construction that the company insists is critical.

Covanta estimated it would take $2.5 million to fix the third burner, which is inoperable. The balance of the $19.8 million would remedy flaws in all three burners. In addition, the company would enhance or install redundancy for key systems, reducing down times.

Covanta's estimate exceeds the $14 million the authority is trying to raise by increasing interest rates on some incinerator bonds.

The authority board's next meeting is 6 p.m. March 28 in its offices at Front and Market streets.

Last year, the incinerator ran $14.3 million in the red and fueled an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

The incinerator would need to run at 90 percent capacity this year to cover its $27 million annual budget and make payments on debt totaling $228 million.

The pending construction means the plant would operate only two burners, incinerating trash and producing steam and electricity for sale at about 66 percent capacity through the rest of this year.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Colorado firm sued over incinerator overhaul
Sunday, February 18, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority has filed suit in Dauphin County Court against a Colorado company it contends botched an $80 million overhaul of the city's trash incinerator.

A one-page legal document filed this week names Barlow Projects Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo., and its local operating entity, Barlow Projects Harrisburg, as defendants in the civil action seeking unspecified damages.

"This is something that needed to happen," Harrisburg Authority board member Fred Clark said. "To turn our cheek and give them a free pass would have been irresponsible."

A voice mail message for Barlow executive James Barlow in Colorado was not returned yesterday.

In 2003, the Harrisburg Authority hired Barlow Projects for an $80 million renovation of the city's 30-year-old incinerator, which was forced to close that year because of tougher emissions standards.

The three-burner retrofit was supposed to turn the operation from an outdated trash incinerator into a modern waste-to-energy moneymaker. Instead, the authority said, Barlow blew its construction deadlines, underdesigned critical systems and all but ran out of money before it finished the job.

In December, the authority fired Barlow and hired Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., a private waste company, to assess the plant and operate it.

Covanta last week unveiled a $19.8 million estimate for a redesign and construction, which will help the authority establish damages in the court case, Clark said. Covanta insists the changes are needed to make the trash incinerator fully functional.

Covanta estimated it would take $2.5 million to fix the plant's third burner, which is inoperable. The balance of the $19.8 million would remedy design flaws inherent in all three burners, notably inadequate ash-handling and air-heating systems that tend to clog and break down. In addition, the company would enhance or install redundancy for key systems, reducing plant down times.

Covanta identified an additional $4.1 million in improvements that it said would increase the plant's reliability and efficiency and cut down on operation costs. It said an additional $1.6 million in work is needed to complete the plant, including finishing the administration building, landscaping and road paving, but that such work is not critical to operations.

The authority, the city agency that owns the incinerator, plans to review Covanta's construction plan and decide whether to pay for it.

However, Covanta's $19.8 million estimate for work it said is critical exceeds the $14 million the authority is trying to get by raising the interest rates on some incinerator bonds.

The pending construction means the plant would operate two burners, incinerating trash and producing steam and electricity for sale at about 66 percent capacity through the rest of this year.

The incinerator would need to run at 90 percent capacity this year to cover its $27 million annual budget and make payments on debt totaling $228 million.

Last year, the incinerator ran $14.3 million in the red and fueled an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

But when Barlow blew its original Jan. 2, 2006, construction deadline, the authority granted the company an extension of several months and waived a penalty clause calling for damages of $22,000 for each day the project was late.

City officials have cited the decision to waive these damages, along with what city officials describe as Barlow's precarious financial condition, as factors that might reduce the amount the authority ultimately recovers, if any.

"What we get is going to be determined in the court system," Clark said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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$19.8 million plan to fix incinerator unveiled
Friday, February 16, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Is it throwing good money after bad or a final investment that will yield a worthwhile return?

That question greeted a $19.8 million estimate for redesigns and construction needed to make Harrisburg's trash incinerator fully functional.

Officials with Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., the private waste company that's been operating the plant since Jan. 2., unveiled the price tag to the City Council last night.

Covanta officials said the estimate would cover completing the plant's third, shuttered burner and correct design flaws in all three burners, which were installed as part of an $80 million overhaul in 2005.

With so much money sunk into the poor-performing plant, some council members admitted skepticism at the prospect of committing millions more.

"Here we are again, one year later," said Councilwoman Linda Thompson, who chaired the meeting. "What happened to our $80 million? What did we buy for $80 million?"

However, it will be the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the incinerator in south Harrisburg -- not the council -- that will decide whether to fund Covanta's construction plan.

Covanta's $19.8 million estimate for work that it insists is critical to the successful operation of the plant exceeds the $14 million the authority is trying to raise by increasing the interest rates on some incinerator bonds.

What is more, Covanta identified another $4.1 million in improvements that it said would increase the plant's reliability and efficiency and cut down on operation costs.

Covanta added that another $1.6 million in work is needed to complete the plant, including finishing the administration building, landscaping and road paving, but it's not critical to operations.

Covanta officials said the company would consider investing some of its own money as part of a long-term lease of the plant, an arrangement under consideration between the authority and the company.

"This is what we do," Covanta Regional Vice President Paul Stauder said. "We have a proven track record of turning plants around. We've done it before."

Covanta officials said they spent more than 2,000 employee hours evaluating the three-burner plant. What they found was a renovated plant that was about 80 percent complete and an incinerator design marred by two major flaws keeping it from operating efficiently.

Covanta would spend $2.5 million to fix the plant's third, inoperable burner first. The balance of the $19.8 million would remedy design flaws inherent in all three burners, notably inadequate ash-handling and air heating systems that tend to clog and break down. In addition, the company would enhance or install redundancy for key systems, reducing plant down times.

The plan would allow Covanta to operate at least two burners, incinerating trash and producing steam and electricity for sale at about 66 percent capacity throughout the construction period. The plant could be fully operational, burning 800 tons daily, as soon as late this year.

"The potential is huge," plant manager John Moffitt said.

But the incinerator would need to run at 90 percent capacity this year to cover its $27 million annual budget and make payments on debt totaling $228 million.

Last year, the incinerator underperformed its budget by $14.3 million and fueled an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed has indicated he is all but resigned to a deficit of some amount in the incinerators operations again this year. Covanta said last night that they didn't draw up the budget and couldn't estimate the losses.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Incinerator's problems 'can all be fixed,' firm says
Officials to submit plans for city's trash incinerator
Thursday, February 15, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The private company running Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator has completed work on detailed designs that the company says would make the plant fully functional by the end of the year.

"We feel very optimistic that this plant can operate successfully," said Paul Stauder, regional vice president with Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., the waste company operating the plant since Jan. 2.

Covanta was scheduled today to submit its comprehensive plans to the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the three-burner plant in south Harrisburg.

The authority and its board would have to review, approve and fund Covanta's multimillion dollar construction plan before any work could begin.

Covanta's plan involves fixing the plant's third, shuttered burner first. Then, the company would address design flaws inherent in all three burners, which were installed as part of a botched $80 million overhaul in 2005.

This way, Covanta says it can continue to operate at least two burners and produce steam and electricity for sale -- allowing the plant to generate at least two-thirds of its revenues throughout the construction period.

Under the plan, the plant would be fully operational, burning 800 tons daily in three boilers, by late this year.

"This can all be fixed and the plant can run as originally designed," said Stauder, who is scheduled to appear before City Council tonight.

However, Covanta officials said repair work is expected to exceed $14 million the Harrisburg Authority is trying to raise by increasing interest rates on some incinerator bonds.

Covanta officials said the company would consider investing in the plant as part of a long-term lease, an arrangement being considered by the authority and the company.

Authority board member Fred Clark said the agency was in the process of hiring an engineer to provide an independent review of Covanta's recommendations before signing off and committing money.

"Obviously, we want to do our due diligence," he said. "But I am very optimistic about Covanta's ability to assist us in solving these long-term problems."

The plant's major issues include the unfinished third burner and inadequate ash-handling and air heating systems, which tend to clog and break down.

With only two of the plant's three burners expected to be operational for most of this year, the best the incinerator can hope for is two-thirds efficiency. It needs to run at 90 percent of its daily 800-ton capacity to cover its $27 million annual budget and pay off debt totaling $228 million.

Last year, the incinerator underperformed its budget by $14.3 million and fueled an overall city deficit of $13.8 million.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed has all but resigned himself to a deficit of some amount in the incinerator's operations again this year. But neither Covanta nor Harrisburg Authority officials could estimate losses.

To maximize revenues, Daniel Caraccio, a Covanta business manager, said he has been actively courting area waste haulers to return to the plant. He said Covanta has reduced dumping "turn times" and eliminated lines to improve haulers' satisfaction.

"The average wait is eight minutes, versus hours," he said. "Haulers were upset, and they had a right to be."

Stauder said he is optimistic that utilization of the plant will only increase because of its central location, easy access and efficient operation. By contrast, he said, many landfills are out in the country, where haulers must traverse muddy roads and drive out onto the trash pile to dump, risking flat tires or getting stuck.

"Waste flow will not be a problem," he said. "Getting the waste is not the issue. We'll go out and find the waste."

The Harrisburg Authority hired Covanta on an interim basis in December after the agency fired Barlow Projects Inc. of Colorado, the company in charge of the original $80 million renovation.

That project was supposed to turn the operation from an aging, outdated trash burner into a modern waste-to-energy moneymaker. Instead, the authority said Barlow blew its construction deadlines, underdeveloped critical systems and all but ran out of money before it could finish the job.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

AIR YOUR VIEWS

WHAT: City Council's hearing on plans for the trash incinerator. WHEN: 5:30 p.m. today. WHERE: Council chambers of city hall, Second and Market streets.

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Council, Reed struggle over board
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg City Council and Mayor Stephen R. Reed are battling over the future of the city agency that owns Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator and its water and sewer utilities.

Reed vetoed legislation this week that would have given the council the power to nominate and confirm appointments to the five-member Harrisburg Authority board, which has had unfilled vacancies for two years.

Reed's action comes as the council was poised next Tuesday to choose three authority members from among seven nominees council members interviewed last month.

The appointments are seen as critical as they could form a majority on the five-member board just as it is about to decide on a $14 million-plus plan to fix the city's incinerator and choose a long-term operator for the money-losing plant.

Also at stake is a fund from which Reed had drawn millions of dollars to buy artifacts for the National Civil War Museum and the now-defunct Wild West attraction.

The incinerator is beset by major design flaws, despite a recent $80 million renovation. The problems include an unfinished third burner and inadequate ash-handling and air-filtering systems, reducing its efficiency and leading to large operating deficits.

The authority board has just two members, Chairman John Keller and Leonard House. A third, vice-chairman Fred Clark, was rejected by council after his term expired in January 2005, but continues to serve because the other vacancies must be filled before Clark can be replaced.

In his veto letter to council, Reed said council's attempt to control the process of appointing the Harrisburg Authority board violated Harrisburg's city charter of 1969 and its strong-mayor form of government.

"Both the Third Class City Code and the Harrisburg City Charter make clear that the executive powers are vested in the executive branch, including the ability, right and duty to make appointments," Reed wrote.

But council members and city solicitor Steven Dade see the matter another way.

Acting under a legal opinion by Dade, council took control of the appointment process for the Harrisburg Authority board Jan. 23.

Dade wrote that council's appointment power rested in the state's Municipalities Authorities Act, which states the "governing body of the municipality shall appoint the members of the board" of the authority.

Dade wrote that case law bolsters council's appointment power.

Harrisburg in 1971 passed a law giving the power to appoint members of boards, commissions and authorities to the mayor, with the advice and consent of council. In essence, council's ordinance last month merely took back the appointment powers, Dade said.

Council member Linda Thompson expressed confidence that council would have the five votes to override Reed's veto of the legislation at Tuesday's meeting and move forward with naming the three board members.

The legislation passed 6-1, with President Vera Jean White dissenting.

"We need to change the landscape of the Harrisburg Authority," said Thompson, referring to the agency's oversight of the botched $80 million overhaul.

Appointing three members of its own choosing to the authority's board would represent a major victory in council's battle to wrest more control over the agency.

Since early 1991, the authority maintained a special projects reserve fund that Reed has tapped -- to the tune of tens of millions of dollars -- to buy thousands of artifacts for museums and what he calls the city archives.

The fund was financed by the proceeds from bond deals, which the authority issues for the city, other municipalities and government agencies.

Since 2003, when Reed's purchase of at least $4.8 million in Western artifacts was made known, the council has demanded greater control over the authority's board. Reed has since agreed to sell $7 million in Western artifacts purchased with authority money to help repay city loans needed to balance the 2006 and 2007 Harrisburg budgets.

Over the years, council has insisted on clauses restricting the authority's use of some bond proceeds for artifacts. And it has taken tougher stands on Reed's board appointments, rejecting the mayor's last three recommendations.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Commissioners delay vote on incinerator funds
Thursday, February 01, 2007
BY GARRY LENTON
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority's efforts to secure $14 million for the city's troubled incinerator were stymied yesterday when the Dauphin County commissioners delayed voting on funding for a week.

The authority asked the county to back changes in bond financing, which officials say is needed to pay for more work to get the incinerator's inoperable third burner up and running.

Should the authority default on the bonds, county taxpayers would be liable. In delaying the vote, the commissioners said they have not received enough information from the authority about finances and work to be done.

"I realize that the county absolutely has to be a partner in this project," Commissioner Nick DiFrancesco said. "My concern is we are moving too quickly on this agreement."

The authority is proposing a "bond swap," which would raise the money by increasing the interest rate on $95 million of incinerator bonds. The authority would pay a fixed 5.75 percent interest rate on those bonds beginning in 2011.

Authority officials acknowledged yesterday that there is a question whether the $14 million is sufficient to complete the work needed at the incinerator.

The amount is based on an estimate from Barlow Projects Inc. of Colorado, which was hired to do the $80 million renovation and then fired by the authority, which blamed the company for design flaws in the project.

Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., was hired Jan. 2 to replace Barlow and is conducting an engineering review of the plant, expected to be finished by Feb. 15.

Covanta has agreed to pay the difference between the $14 million and the repair costs.

The plant's problems include an unfinished third burner and inadequate ash-handling and air-filtering systems.

With only two of the plant's three burners operational, the plant cannot run at the 90 percent needed to cover its $27 million annual budget and pay off its debt.

Last year, the incinerator underperformed its budget by $14.3 million and fueled a city deficit of $13.8 million.

The commissioners have also insisted that City Council be given an opportunity to sign for the funding. Council has agreed to consider the authority's request, but would not be able to vote until Feb. 27, according to a letter from Council President Vera Jean-White.

GARRY LENTON: 255-8264 or glenton@patriot-news.com

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LAST CHANCE
The incinerator, which has brought the city to the brink of financial catastrophe, needs to be independently investigated.
Monday, January 29, 2007

Nearly 30 years ago, The Patriot- News editorial page was lamenting a city incinerator that failed to operate as anticipated and was losing money by the ton.

That was back when it was just a $12 million problem, nearly twice its expected cost. Today, it's a $224 million problem -- and counting.

We wrote in May 1977 what well could be said today: "The record of predictions that have been made in behalf of the city's solid waste disposal facility should be reason enough to deter anyone from voicing an optimistic outlook."

The Harrisburg Authority, which owns the facility in south Harrisburg, really has no alternative but to try to get the sec ond incarna tion of a problem- plagued in cinerator run ning at or near its daily 800-ton ca pacity. If it fails, the con sequences for the city and its taxpayers are almost too horrible to contemplate.

The authority needs the help of City Council and the Dauphin County commissioners to move forward. Their approval is being sought as guarantors of an additional $14 million needed to finish the work started by Barlow Projects Inc. of Fort Collins, Colo. Barlow was booted off the project in December for failing to deliver a finished and operational facility, even after it was given an extended, penalty-free period of time to complete the work.

The almost completely rebuilt plant also suffers from design flaws that need to be addressed. But Paul E. Stauder, vice president for regional business development at Covanta Energy Corp., told The Patriot-News Editorial Board last week that the task is "feasible."

Covanta has been hired by the authority to get the incinerator back in operation and to provide an assessment of what it will take to complete the project. The company, which describes itself on its Web site as "a world premier owner and operator of modern waste to energy facilities," has expressed an interest in either operating or leasing the Harrisburg incinerator, possibly to include taking an ownership interest.

Covanta was brought in Jan. 2 to rescue a plant that was left in a deplorable state of disarray by city workers after they were fired by authority chairman Fred Clark.

That followed what apparently have been serious long-running labor-management issues at the facility. In meeting with us, Clark and incinerator consultant Dan Lispi were candid in their personal assessment of the problems at the incinerator and their part in a seemingly endless stream of mind-boggling mistakes, which includes failure to require Barlow to obtain a performance bond.

The focus of all involved now must be to get the plant operating at capacity in a reliable fashion as soon as possible. This is the last best chance to get it right, or the repercussions for the city -- and the region -- could well be monumental and long-lasting.

But the city needs to learn from its mistakes. The incredible series of events surrounding the incinerator, which have brought the city to the brink of financial catastrophe, need to be independently investigated, if only to establish the historical record of how what originally was a good idea could go so terribly wrong.

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DAUPHIN COUNTY
Authority seeks bond help for incinerator
Thursday, January 25, 2007
BY GARRY LENTON AND JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority, scrambling to raise money to rescue the city trash incinerator, is asking Dauphin County to help it secure another $14 million for the project.

But county Commissioners Jeff Haste, Nick DiFrancesco and George Hartwick III yesterday told authority officials the Harrisburg City Council should be first in line to guarantee additional debt for the project, which already is carrying $228 million in bond debt.

Authority officials said they approached the county first because they believed that the City Council, which was poised to cut the incinerator from its 2007 budget, would reject the financing.

Authority officials said they would follow the commissioners' request and take their request to the city. They expressed doubt whether the council could act before next week's commission meeting, when a final vote on the proposed bond swap was scheduled.

"City Council washed their hands of it," authority chairman Fred Clark said. "They said, 'We're not going to back any more financial obligations.'"

But at least one council member said authority officials shouldn't assume anything.

"As a group, we have never been approached about or discussed any additional loan," Councilman Dan Miller said. "I think council would love to see a workable solution to the incinerator problem."

Under the so-called bond swap, the $14 million would raise money by increasing the interest rate to be paid on $95 million of the incinerator bonds. If approved, the authority would agree to pay a fixed 5.5 percent interest rate on those bonds, beginning in 2011.

The authority says the additional $14 million is needed to complete the plant and address design flaws -- problems that it contends resulted from an $80 million renovation by Barlow Projects Inc. of Colorado, which has been fired.

Clark said the authority is exploring its legal options against Barlow, but he and other officials said there's little prospect of a large financial windfall. Among other factors, they cited the authority's decision to waive penalties against Barlow for missing deadlines.

The authority also made other concessions and approved amendments to the original construction contract that might have lessened Barlow's liability, city officials have said.

On Jan. 2, the authority brought in Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., to assesses the plant and develop a plan to fix it.

The plant's major problems include an unfinished third burner and inadequate ash-handling and air-filtering systems. Covanta Regional Vice President Paul E. Stauder said yesterday there's no way to know how much those problems would cost to fix until the company completes its assessment on Feb. 15.

With only two of the plant's three burners operational, the best the incinerator can hope for is two-thirds efficiency. It needs to run at 90 percent of its daily 800-ton capacity to cover its $27 million annual budget and pay off its debt.

Last year, the incinerator underperformed its budget by $14.3 million and fueled an overall city deficit of $13.8 million. This year, the plant must generate about $2 million a month burning trash and generating steam and electricity for sale, or risk defaulting on its bonds.

The Harrisburg Authority and the city have pledged their guarantees behind the plant's entire $228 million debt, and Dauphin County is the third guarantor for about $95 million of it. By backing the additional $14 million, the county would move to first on the pecking order for that portion only.

The commissioners said they would be willing to consider the deal even if the City Council declines.

The authority's financial adviser, James F. Losty of RBC Capital Markets, estimated the additional cost of the transaction at $1.8 million a year, when comparing the fixed rate to the historical average interest rate of 3.35 percent for municipal bonds.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com GARRY LENTON: 255-8264 or glenton@patriot-news.com

BURNING ISSUE

The Harrisburg Authority needs more money to complete renovations at the city trash incinerator, which the authority owns. Here are the basic facts:
# How much is being raised? $14 million.
# How will the money be obtained? Through a financial process known as a bond swap.
# How does a bond swap work? The authority, with backing either from the Harrisburg City Council or Dauphin County, adds to the value of the original bond issue by increasing the interest rate it will pay on the bonds. In return, a lender fronts the money needed to complete the project.
# What is at risk? It adds to the existing incinerator debt, which already totals $228 million. If the incinerator is unable to make money, taxpayers who live in the city and the county would have to pay back the debt. The debt payments total about $16 million annually through 2023.

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City works to salvage troubled incinerator
A SPECIAL REPORT ON PAGES A4 AND A5
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

It's burn or get burned.

That's the stark choice facing Harrisburg as it mounts one last all-out effort to get its troubled trash incinerator working properly and profitability.

The company that had an $80 million contract to renovate the plant was fired. The plant's staff of 38 city employees has been let go. A firm that operates 31 other incinerators across the country has been brought in to save the day.

But it won't be easy.

The incinerator is said to need lots more work. The job is expected to costs millions and take months.

The outcome could profoundly affect Harrisburg's budget for this year and alter its financial standing for years to come.

Inside is a look at what the new company has been doing to head off disaster, how the plant should work, what's wrong with it and what it could take to fix it.

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Heaps of problems bury municipal garbage burner
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Fittingly, perhaps, Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator has a salvage yard of its own.

On a windswept hill on the southeast side of the plant lie all the parts from the unfinished, $80 million renovation that was supposed to turn the operation from an aging, outdated trash burner into a modern waste-to-energy moneymaker.

The formula seemed simple. The three-burner incinerator would consume 800 tons of garbage a day at one end, and turn out steam and electricity for sale at the other.

It was all supposed to add up to annual revenues of $27 million and more.

Instead, the incinerator contractor, Barlow Projects Inc., blew its construction deadlines, underdesigned critical systems and all but ran out of money before it could finish the job, according to officials with the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the plant in south Harrisburg.

As a result, steel ladders, railings and platforms that should be part of the plant have been left to rust in a field.

Even more vital parts, which were scattered about the sprawling plant, have been collected and are packed in shipping containers. Deciphering where they go will be like working a jigsaw puzzle.

That job now falls to Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., the private company the Harrisburg Authority tapped to replace Barlow and save the plant.

Since Covanta's Jan. 2 takeover, two of the incinerator's three burners have been brought back on line, and the plant is generating steam and electricity.

Yet the incinerator is still running at only 66 percent of its 800-ton daily capacity -- a recipe for financial disaster. But all things considered, Covanta officials are calling it an early success upon which they can build.

Covanta said its welcome to Harrisburg was tons of trash and ash.

With the incinerator idled during the holidays, the garbage, trucked in daily from Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties, was allowed to pile up on an enclosed tipping floor the size of a football field.

By the time they arrived, Covanta officials said there was no room for even one more trash bag.

Idled furnaces were extinguished in midburn, meaning their hoppers were piled with ash. Halted conveyor belts that remove the burn byproducts were strewn with ash and twisted, scorched metal.

Making matters worse, the bowels of the plant were cast in darkness, as most interior spaces lacked lighting to safely walk around.

"You couldn't see without a flashlight," said new plant manager John Moffitt.

Several electric breaker boxes -- including that of the plant's 24-megawatt electric turbine -- weren't grounded.

Administrative offices were never finished, relegating plant supervisors to construction trailers. Access roads were never paved. Tarps, instead of permanent canopies, cover key areas of the pollution-control system. There also were all those unused parts scattered everywhere.

But perhaps the biggest monument to failure is the plant's towering third burner. It stands idle and exposed, as the building to shelter it was never built.

Covanta officials said there's no telling how long it will take or how much it will cost to get the plant running as it should.

That answer won't come until Feb. 15, when the company delivers its fix-it plan and accompanying budget to the Harrisburg Authority, which is trying to free up $12 million to pay for the work.

"We don't have a handle on how big the project will be yet," said authority regional Vice President Glenn Madelmayer.

But, he said, there's hope.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Hire more police
Saturday, January 20, 2007

The City of Harrisburg is finding jobs for 38 city incinerator workers and laying off police officers? I don't get it! Keep them off the payroll and hire more police.

-- GAIL WITMER, Swatara Twp.

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Financial problems persist at trash plant
Friday, January 12, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Even with an experienced private company now running Harrisburg's trash incinerator, there's virtually no chance that the plant will meet its revenue target for 2007, city officials said last night.

What is more, the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the incinerator, still lacks the $12 million needed to complete renovations at the plant and fix design flaws that have plagued its operation.

Authority officials said last night at a City Council hearing that the improvements are the only way the plant will ever run at 90 percent of its daily 800-ton capacity -- the efficiency rate needed for the incinerator to cover its $27 million annual budget.

"We are not going to get to a point of breaking even, or profitability, until we do the improvements," authority solicitor Bruce Foreman said.

But Foreman added that the authority was still exploring viable financial plans to raise the $12 million needed for the improvements.

The plant has been operating with only one of its three burners since Sunday. A second unit was scheduled to be brought online today, but the third is being mothballed indefinitely. City officials said it was never fully completed by the original incinerator contractor, Barlow Projects Inc.

That firm, which had an $80 million contract to renovate the plant, was replaced Jan. 2 by Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J.

As it is, the best the incinerator can hope for is 66 percent efficiency until the third burner is completed and inadequate ash-handling and air-filtering systems are replaced, officials said.

Council members pointed out that the longer the plant goes without the improvements, the more money the city stands to lose.

"Time is money," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said.

"You will not have it up and running until the fourth quarter of the year," member Susan Brown Wilson predicted. "We are not going to make what we need, and they are going to come back down here and ask the council to bail them out."

Such a situation would be a virtual replay of the city's financial crisis of last year.

In 2006, the incinerator under-performed its budget by $14.3 million and fueled the city's overall deficit of $13.8 million, which led to layoffs, multimillion-dollar borrowings and a 17 percent real estate tax increase.

For 2007, the incinerator was projected to bring in $27 million by burning trash and generating electricity and steam for sale. But everyone from Mayor Stephen R. Reed on down now discounts those figures. No one can say for sure how much the plant will actually earn.

"I want to know how much we are losing," Thompson said.

The council hearing was conducted without participation by Covanta officials.

"I'm a little perturbed by this," Thompson said. "We asked them to be here, and they're a no-show."

Foreman chalked up their absence to a "communications error."

The authority gave Covanta a 90-day interim operating agreement in hopes of improving the plant's efficiency. Within 45 days, Covanta is expected to provide the authority with a budget and timeline for completing renovations and fixing the design flaws. The company also might explore a long-term lease of the plant, or perhaps, offer to buy it.

Council members criticized the arrangement because it has cost the jobs of 38 city employees who had worked at the incinerator. The employees were sent layoff notices last Thursday, but it remains to be seen how many will lose jobs, as some might retire, bump into other city positions or opt to work for Covanta.

Several council members pointed out that Covanta had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as recently as 2002, although it has since reorganized to generate $1.5 billion in annual revenues.

"We didn't have a lot of people competing with Covanta," Foreman said, explaining why the company was chosen. "They had a better bargaining position."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Layoff notices to be sent to incinerator employees
Mayor Reed said there's no room in Harrisburg's straitjacket-tight budget to keep the extra workers on for the long term.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Layoff notices go out today to 38 city employees who until last week had worked at Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator, now being run by a private company.

But city budget director Linda Lingle said it's too early to say how many -- if any -- city workers will lose their jobs.

That's because possible retirements, other city vacancies and job opportunities with the private company now running the incinerator might be enough to absorb all or most of the workers laid off, city officials said.

"We are trying to minimize the impact on staff," Mayor Stephen R. Reed said.

As many as 25 former incinerator employees had expressed interest in interviewing for positions with Covanta Energy Corp., the Fairfield, N.J.-based company that took over operation of the plant on Jan. 2.

The city is granting a 90-day leave of absence to any employee wishing to test the waters with Covanta. At the end of that period, the employee would have to decide whether to leave the city permanently to join the company or retain his or her city employment.

The affected city workers are represented by District Council 90 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. They would have to give up their union status, along with their seniority and other benefits with Harrisburg, to work for Covanta.

Lingle said Covanta was interviewing city workers this week, with the company expected to complete its hiring decisions shortly.

The Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the incinerator in south Harrisburg, voted unanimously last month to enter into a 90-day interim operating agreement with Covanta in hopes of improving the plant's efficiency.

Under that agreement, Covanta has full authority to staff the plant. Eventually, Covanta is expected to propose a long-term lease or perhaps an outright purchase of the incinerator, based on its success running the plant.

Since Jan. 3, idled incinerator workers have been transferred to other city departments. Most were added to city maintenance and demolition crews and were helping clean up abandoned lots, catch up on park maintenance and demolish condemned structures, according to city officials.

"Right now, we have the luxury of more staff, so we are getting more done," Reed said. But he said there's no room in Harrisburg's straitjacket-tight budget to keep the extra workers on for the long term.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Incinerator remains budget issue
Thursday, January 11, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg cut some spending, raised property taxes and borrowed millions to erase a deficit from 2006 and plug a gaping hole in this year's budget.

And although the calendar has turned to a new year, there's no guarantee that the specter of red ink and the gloom of staff layoffs won't return to haunt the city.

"Is there a potential for [another] deficit this year?" Mayor Stephen R. Reed said. "The answer is absolutely yes. We can't say for certain."

The chief reason is once again Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator, the culprit that under-performed its 2006 budget by $14.3 million and fueled the city's overall deficit of $13.8 million.

For 2007, the incinerator is projected to bring in $27 million in revenue by burning trash and generating electricity and steam for sale. But those lofty expectations, which the City Council all but rejected out of hand, were predicated on the plant operating at peak efficiency.

Right now, it's nowhere close.

Only one of the incinerator's three burners has been brought online since a private company, Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., took over operations Jan 2.

That means the best the plant can do is run at one-third of its rated capacity of 800 tons of trash a day.

Yet, with Covanta now running the plant, Reed said he's confident the operation will move toward efficiency and, eventually, profitability. But he admitted it might not happen this year.

"We will be in a much better position in 2008 than in 2007," Reed said.

City consultant Dan Lispi said Covanta has been conducting exhaustive reviews of the plant and bringing it back online in a smooth but slower fashion.

"They are trying to get it right," he said. "They are trying to bring it up so it runs steadily and consistently."

Lispi said Convanta hopes to return the second burner to service as early as tomorrow. But the third and most trouble-plagued unit could be out indefinitely. Lispi said this is because the third burner was never completely finished by the original contractor, Barlow Projects Inc.

At the same time it brought in Covanta, the authority ousted Barlow Projects Inc., which did an $80 million overhaul of the incinerator that ended in design flaws and a four-month delay in reopening.

Within 45 days, Covanta is expected to provide the authority with a budget and timeline for completing renovations of the incinerator and fixing design flaws plaguing the plant, particularly overtaxed air-filtering and ash-handling systems.

Through interest rate maneuvers involving some of the incinerator bonds, the authority has cleared up to $12 million to finance the incinerator improvements.

Reed said he wants Covanta to present a realistic plan -- not a pie-in-the-sky wish list -- for fixing the plant.

"Don't give me a laundry list of things that would be nice to have," he said. "It's so important to maximize the revenue in 2007. Otherwise, there is certainly the potential for another budget deficit."

Councilwoman Linda Thompson, whose council committee oversees the plant, vowed to monitor incinerator operations. If problems persist, she said, she plans to sound the alarm about another deficit early and often, rather than wait for it to develop into a crisis, as happened last fall.

"My biggest concern is we are going to be back here again," she said. "If I have to have monthly meetings, I will do that. I'm going to be a watchdog like no other."

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

BURNING ISSUE

WHAT: The Harrisburg City Council has scheduled a public works committee meeting to discuss problems at the trash incinerator. WHEN: 5:05 p.m. today. WHERE: City Government Center's council chambers.

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Incinerator employees transferred
Friday, January 05, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's trash incinerator has a new operator and soon might have a new staff.

All 38 incinerator employees were transferred to other city jobs Wednesday as the private company, Covanta Energy Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., took over operation of the plant.

The company has pledged to interview any city employee interested in a job at the incinerator.

Mary Schwanger, director of District Council 90 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the arrangement should ease the transition to private staffing and operation of the incinerator. It also could minimize the number of senior incinerator employees who "bump" into other AFSCME jobs throughout the city, Schwanger said.

Up to 25 of the 38 incinerator employees have expressed interest in interviewing for jobs at the plant, said Linda Lingle, city budget director.

The staffing fallout was expected in wake of management changes at the incinerator.

Incinerator director John Lukens, the lone city manager remaining at the plant, said the burner has been idle for two weeks due to the changeover in management.

At the same time it brought in Covanta, the Harrisburg Authority ousted Barlow Projects Inc., which did an $80 million overhaul of the incinerator that ended in design flaws and a four-month delay in reopening.

Lukens said that Covanta specialists were now engaged in a top-to-bottom review and inspection of the three-burner incinerator, designed to burn 800 tons of trash daily. He said the hope was that the plant would return to full operation by this weekend.

"They brought the big guns to bear," Lukens said of Covanta. "They definitely have the best and brightest here. They are excited about helping the Harrisburg Authority and the city turn this thing around. They see it as a challenge."

Covanta owns and/or operates 31 similar facilities around the country, including one in Bainbridge, Lancaster County.

"The depth of that organization is amazing to me," Lukens added. "They've got lots of people on site. They have been going through our systems and shaking down systems and recommissioning and double-checking everything."

Within 45 days, Covanta is expected to provide the Harrisburg Authority with a budget and timeline for completing renovations of the incinerator and fixing design flaws plaguing the plant, most notably over-taxed air-filtering and ash-handling systems.

Through interest rate maneuvers involving some of the incinerator bonds, the authority has cleared up to $12 million to finance the incinerator improvements.

The incinerator generated $14.3 million less in revenue this year than expected and carries $228 million in debt, which could fall on city taxpayers if the facility's revenues don't improve.

The incinerator's problems contributed to the city's $13.8 million deficit for 2006, which resulted in a 17 percent tax increase and the layoff of 32 workers.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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Where unfairness in city really lies
Friday, December 29, 2006

Incinerator questions

I think it is time for our newspaper to present a complete chronicle of all of the events leading up to the present situation with the Harrisburg Incinerator.

The costs have escalated beyond belief and it still is not functioning properly. How did we get to this point? Who's to blame? Where do we go from here?

-- ROBERT LIPMAN, Harrisburg

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Incinerator controls turned over
Saturday, December 23, 2006
BY ELLEN LYON
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Authority has entrusted the operation and repair of the city's troubled incinerator to a New Jersey company, effectively firing the Colorado company whose overhaul of the facility has been plagued by problems.

The three-member authority, which owns the incinerator in south Harrisburg, unanimously voted yesterday to enter into an interim operating agreement with Covanta Energy Corporation of Fairfield, N.J.

The company owns and/or operates 31 similar facilities around the country, including one in Bainbridge, Lancaster County.

A resolution to turn over the incinerator's management to a subsidiary of Barlow Projects Inc., which did an $80 million overhaul of the incinerator that ended in design flaws and a four-month delay in reopening, drew no sponsors.

"Barlow will have no involvement with the facility," authority Chairman Fred Brown said.

Officials at Barlow could not be reached yesterday. The company's answering machine said it was closed for the holidays until Jan. 2.

Effective Jan. 2, Covanta will be responsible for the daily operations and the completion of $12 million in construction and repairs at the incinerator, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said at a news conference after the vote.

For now, more than 40 city workers who have been running the incinerator will continue to have jobs, but their long-term future is uncertain, officials said.

"There's no doubt in my mind [Covanta] will want to retain a bunch of those employees because of their expertise," Reed said. But, he added, if some are laid off, there is no room for them elsewhere in the city budget.

Covanta officials did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.

Brown said he will be negotiating a long-term lease or sale of the facility to Covanta, but he favors a sale.

Reed said a sale would have to wait until construction is complete, which could take six months, and until the incinerator is performing at full capacity, which could take a year.

"That's when you want to start thinking about selling," Reed said. "The optimal time to do that is not now. You'd have to have bargain-basement prices."

The construction will be financed by raising the interest rate on incinerator bonds that don't start coming due until 2011, Reed said.

The incinerator generated $14.3 million less in revenue this year than expected and carries $228 million in debt, which could fall on city taxpayers if the facility's revenues don't improve.

Reed said the incinerator's problems contributed to the city's $13.8 million deficit, which resulted in a 17 percent tax increase and the layoff of 32 workers.

Mary Schwanger, an official with AFSCME District Council 90, which represents about 40 incinerator workers, said the city should continue to own the incinerator, but she applauded the decision to fire Barlow.

"When the facility is properly designed and running, we believe we can partner with the city and generate the revenue that's needed to repay the debt and bring additional revenue to the city," she said.

ELLEN LYON: 255-8167 or elyon@patriot-news.com

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Council OKs budget compromise
Friday, December 22, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg property owners will have to pay 17 percent more in city taxes, and the city must spend about 3 percent less than planned in 2007.

But for that price, no more city employees will lose their jobs. And the consternation that existed between Mayor Stephen R. Reed and the City Council during a four-month budget crisis appears replaced by a spirit of cooperation.

"We met in the middle," Councilwoman Patty Kim declared. "No one got exactly what they wanted."

"I'm happy," added budget director Linda Lingle. "We have a balanced budget and prevented layoffs. I think both sides have learned a lot from this process."

The budget compromise was cemented last night by the council's unanimous vote approving a $134 million city spending plan for next year.

Splitting 4-3, the council approved a 1.5-mill increase in city real estate taxes, raising the city's combined levy on land and improvements to 10.1 mills. The owner of a house assessed at $100,000 will pay $150 more a year, for a total of $1,010 annually in city taxes. Dauphin County and city school district taxes are separate.

But the council did not tackle perhaps the biggest issue threatening Harrisburg's finances -- its poor-performing municipal waste incinerator.

Council members had threatened to sever ties with the incinerator, owned by the Harrisburg Authority, and remove the burner's $27 million budget from the overall city spending plan.

The idea was raised after members agreed that they didn't trust projections showing the incinerator would generate $27 million next year after a delayed start and operational problems limited its revenues to just $8.8 million in 2006.

The incinerator's underperformance, even after an $80 million overhaul, contributed mightily to Harrisburg's $13.8 million budget deficit that forced the city to borrow $7.2 million and lay off 32 workers this fall.

In the end, the council decided that while severing ties with the incinerator might insulate Harrisburg from incinerator deficits, it wouldn't protect it from the $228 million in incinerator-related debt the city has guaranteed.

"We came here tonight to remove it from the budget," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said of the incinerator. "That would have been a radical decision. But we are the co-signer for it."

Instead, Thompson said, council wanted to retain its oversight of the plant to help improve its operation and protect the city from getting stuck with its debt payments.

The council removed $1.2 million to cover a part of the incinerator deficit from this year, saying it's up to the Harrisburg Authority, which owns the city's utilities, to come up with the money.

The council spared the struggling National Civil War Museum from the budget ax.

Members had considered ending a $640,000 annual subsidy for the museum using the city's share of the Dauphin County's hotel tax.

Instead, the council granted the payment for one more year, giving the museum time to find alternative revenues and preventing it from possibly closing if money was abruptly cut.

The budget counts on $800,000 as soon as the Harrisburg Senators minor league baseball team is sold. The rest of the sales proceeds would go to retire debt from the 1996 purchase of the team, with any remaining money going to pay off this year's $7.2 million budget bailout loan.

City spokesman Randy King said it's all but certain that the team would be sold next year, with negotiations expected to heat up soon after New Year's Day.

While jobs were spared, it is unclear whether the police department will be able to add any officers to its depleted force. The city has 155 officers, down from 180 because of early retirements the past two years.

The council removed $99,345 from a police budget of $19.9 million, and it cut $115,594 from the fire department's $9.6 million spending plan.

The rest of the city's departments and utility funds will have to absorb $892,819 in spending reductions.

All of them, except the City Council itself. As part of the last-minute amendments, the council added $140,085 to its own budget, raising it to $489,404, an increase of about $13,000 over 2006.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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HARRISBURG CRISIS
Budget woes risk status as regional hub
Thursday, December 21, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Again this Dec. 31, thousands of revelers from around the region will flock to Harrisburg's Market Square to usher in the new year and have a darn good time doing so.

But will 2007 see a continuation of the city's role as a dining, entertainment and after-hours destination for the midstate?

Or will Harrisburg suffer a rare retrenchment in its amenities, services, events and security under Mayor Stephen R. Reed?

That and more are at stake as the city considers a $135.2 million spending plan for 2007 that could determine its regional image for years to come.

The ripples could go far beyond the city employees and police officers who might be laid off, the property owners and businesses who would see their real estate taxes rise, and the everyday services such as trash collection and street cleaning that could be affected.

The region's health is tied to that of the city in numerous ways.

"We are the dominant regional hub for sports, entertainment and events, also history, heritage, arts, culture and finance," Reed said. "All of those things have a nucleus here."

Police take a hit:

It adds up to some 4 million visits a year, according to city estimates based on information from Harrisburg's hotels, nightclubs and attractions.

"That's easily double what it was 10 years ago," Reed said.

As the state capital and Dauphin County seat, Harrisburg also is host to tens of thousands of workers every day.

Reed said the city's daytime population swells three-fold, to nearly 150,000, most of them workers and visitors.

At night and especially on the weekends, Restaurant Row, the city's string of bars, restaurants and night spots along North Second Street, becomes crowded with people from around the region.

Reed said Restaurant Row businesses estimate the combined annual crowd at 520,000 -- and that's just on the weekends.

But would all of those guests still come if there were fewer police officers on the streets?

Early retirements in the past two years have shrunk the city force to 155 officers, from 180. Fifty-five more officers would be in position to leave under the early retirement terms of the police contract in place through 2010.

With the ranks thinning, Chief Charles Kellar said he will disband the department's two-officer mounted unit, so New Year's Eve might be the last time city officers are seen patrolling crowds on horseback. Kellar said he plans to reassign the officers to regular patrols to fill staffing gaps.

Harrisburg's budget crisis, which included a $13.8 million deficit for 2006, has made matters worse. City layoffs wiped out this fall's nine-member police cadet class just weeks before it would have filled some of the slots.

There are no plans to hire officers. Kellar said he believes his department remains a layoff target because of its $19.9 million cost, which represents a third of the city's $59.2 million general budget for 2007.

"We definitely cannot afford to lose any more police officers now," he said. "We are at bare minimum."

Visitors expect services:

Police protection is just one of the municipal services visitors have come to expect in Harrisburg. Parks must be kept manicured, roads maintained, fire and emergency services at the ready and streets and sidewalks cleaned.

"The influx of people here creates a huge demand for municipal services," Reed said.

Another city staple that has kept people coming back again and again also is caught in the budget crisis.

The city-owned Harrisburg Senators minor-league baseball team, which has called City Island home since 1987, is up for sale to help pay off some city debt piled up by the budget deficit.

Reed said he will insist on a clause that would bind the team to Harrisburg for at least 29 years, but he said the requirement is the biggest deterrent to a quick sale.

A lure for business:

A vibrant city isn't just someplace to go for fun and games.

Business officials say the amenities offered by a place such as Harrisburg can help woo businesses, attract residents and lure employees to the larger region.

"It does have a spin-off effect," said Linda Goldstein, vice president and chief operating officer of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and the Capital Region Economic Development Authority. "It's a hub-and-spoke relationship. If Harrisburg is healthy, it does have a positive effect on Cumberland, Perry and other areas of Dauphin County."

Brian Ross, a development specialist with the Governor's Action Team in charge of economic development in Pennsylvania, said headhunters, CEOs and site-selection teams often check out the city before recommending a larger region or area to their clients.

"They ask about assets -- the theater, the arts and entertainment," Ross said. "They want their employees to be happy."

City serves wide area:

Other regional ties are even more concrete and far-reaching.

Harrisburg's trouble-plagued incinerator holds disposal contracts with Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties. Dauphin County pledged its guarantee behind a part of the $125 million in bonds floated to renovate the plant.

The overhaul was supposed to turn the incinerator into a model of efficiency, capable of consuming 800 tons of trash daily and generating steam and electricity for sale.

Instead, the plant was four months late coming on line this year and has performed nowhere near its rated capacity, missing its first-year revenue projection by $14.3 million.

If it continues at that pace, the incinerator would be in danger of falling behind on payments to cover the $228 million in incinerator-related debt, according to the plant's director. That would mean the responsibility for paying incinerator bondholders would fall to the city and, eventually, Dauphin County.

Dauphin County Chief Clerk Chad Saylor expressed concern over the situation but added things are nowhere near the point where the county would be forced to begin paying on the incinerator bonds.

Saylor said Dauphin County leaders remain committed to the incinerator as a better disposal alternative than the Dauphin Meadows Landfill to the north.

Likewise, the city's water and sewer plants, also owned by the Harrisburg Authority, serve several surrounding municipalities. Lately the operations have been passing along rate increases to customers inside and outside Harrisburg.

A tradition of change:

Harrisburg also plays host to some of the region's most historic churches.

Last Sunday, prayers were offered at Market Square Presbyterian Church for the city and its crisis, even though only about a quarter of the congregation lives in Harrisburg.

"I am very much aware of how much this congregation's well-being is tied to the community at large," said the Rev. Jim Brown, Market Square's pastor, who offered the prayers for Harrisburg.

"When the city falters, we all suffer," he said.

Indeed, Brown said his congregation need only venture outside the church's doors to see the positive changes in the city.

"The members of Market Square remember well the blighted nature of the downtown a decade or so ago," he said. "We want the city to succeed."

Of course, the city hasn't lost all momentum.

The long-planned Harrisburg University of Science and Technology just sold $89 million in bonds for a planned building at Fourth and Market streets.

And private developer J. Alex Hartzler and the Starwood hotel chain see Harrisburg and its Restaurant Row as the perfect spot for a Starwood Aloft hotel, a buzz-creating brand aimed at young, hip business travelers in up-and-coming urban centers.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

WHAT'S NEXT

# WHAT: City Council is to vote on Harrisburg's proposed $135.2 million budget for 2007 that calls for a 17 percent property tax increase. The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $150 more a year, for a total of $1,010 annually in city taxes.
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. today. WHERE: City Hall.

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Taxpayers face cost of incinerator woes
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Mayor Stephen R. Reed can claim he is the No. 1 mayor in the country, but I don't think taxpayers would agree. For the past few months Harrisburg has been faced with a budget crisis that will affect homeowners.

Reed has threatened to cut programs and jobs, due to his mistakes in budgeting. He pats himself on the back for not raising taxes. It's not that he's doing us a favor, maybe it's because Harrisburg residents already pay the highest tax in the area.

Why should taxpayers carry the financial load when it is the mayor and some members of City Council who agreed to a $125 million bond to modernize the incinerator? The city still has an incinerator that does not perform to its fullest and there is no profit.

Mayor Reed was warned by activist, environmentalist and other organizations that rebuilding the incinerator was not a good idea economically and environmentally. It fell on death ears. Now homeowners are being asked to foot the bill.

Tomorrow the budget goes to a vote. Before this occurs maybe the citizens of Harrisburg need to call for an audit.

This is not about Reed's legacy, it's about the hard-working citizens who are being faced with a crisis due to poor business management. Many homeowners in the city are elderly and can't afford a tax increase.

-- THE REV. BEVERLY HICKS, Harrisburg

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/116659321199560.xml&coll=1

Council weighs cutting ties to incinerator
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg City Council is considering severing ties with the city's municipal waste incinerator in hope of cutting the poor-performing burner's financial burden.

The council, faced with closing by tomorrow the $3.5 million deficit in the city's proposed $135.2 million budget for 2007, agreed that the incinerator's precarious revenue projections present too great a risk.

"I assume that nobody trusts the incinerator budget?" Councilman Dan Miller said.

The incinerator, owned by the Harrisburg Authority, a city agency that owns Harrisburg's utilities, is projected to generate $27 million in revenue next year, mainly by burning trash and generating steam and electricity for sale.

But the plant in south Harrisburg, which underwent an $80 million overhaul in 2005, pulled in just $8.8 million this year -- under-performing its 2006 budget by $14.3 million and contributing to the city's financial woes.

As a result of a $13.8 million budget deficit this year, Mayor Stephen R. Reed has proposed a 17 percent property tax increase. The city has borrowed $7.2 million and 32 workers have been laid off.

Council members said last night that they could sever the city's ties to the incinerator by allowing Harrisburg's agreement to staff and manage the operation to lapse at the end of this year.

"It will go back to the Harrisburg Authority, and it will be removed from the budget," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said. "Otherwise, we'll be right back here next year."

Ending the agreement to operate the plant might distance Harrisburg from any pass-along deficits from the incinerator's operation.

This year, for example, the burner's under-performance led to a deficit of nearly $5 million for 2006, some of which was passed to the city.

But cutting ties would not insulate Harrisburg from its responsibility for the $228 million in incinerator-related debt. If the plant closes, city taxpayers would have to pay off the debt.

In 2007, the debt payments on the plant will total $13.5 million.

Also unclear is the fate of the 48 city workers who staff and manage the incinerator. Since the money to pay the workers comes from incinerator operations, their fates may be tied to the plant.

City Budget Director Linda Lingle said the proposal would be studied, along with other suggestions to slash the budget.

"Council has the power to direct the budget," Lingle said. "Are there repercussions to that? I don't know. Is it legal? I don't know."

Among other proposals, council is contemplating ending the city subsidy of the National Civil War Museum in Reservoir Park. About $640,000 from the city's share of the Dauphin County hotel tax goes to help pay medical benefits and some salaries of museum staff.

Councilwoman Patty Kim said cutting off all support could force the museum to close.

"We don't really want to see that close," Miller said. He added that, perhaps, the state would be interested in taking it over.

The council also is taking aim at individual positions in the budget, indicating it will refuse to fund certain posts, which could result in further layoffs.

Thompson said she's adamant about eliminating 2 percent raises for city managers, saving about $59,000. She also favors ordering an across-the-board 3 percent spending reduction for all city departments, except police and fire. Funding for consultants and other contracted service also could be eliminated.

Wanda R.D. Williams, chairwoman of council's budget committee, said she expects the ideas to jell into a plan in time for the council to adopt a budget at its special meeting set for 5:30 p.m. tomorrow in City Hall.

Just in case, a coalition of city clergy has volunteered to help solve the city financial issues by trying to bridge the gap between the council and the mayor.

The clerics have met with Reed and council members, and have provided an independent analysis of the budget from a Mechanicsburg consultant, Saeed Gbadamosi, a certified public accountant.

The coalition, comprising black clergy from the Interdenominational Ministers Conference and pastors of mostly white congregations, said it wants to promote cooperation and greater citizen participation in the city's renewal.

"People are willing to come into the city because of the mayor's good work," said the Very Rev. Churchill Pinder, dean of St. Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

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AVOID CRISIS
City budget must be approved, but look ahead for fiscal stability
Wednesday, December 20, 2006

With the clock ticking to ward Dec. 31, City Council is poised to pass a 2007 budget that depends on an incinerator that no one knows when might burn trash efficiently.

The Reed administration has budgeted $27 million in expected revenues from the recently rebuilt South Harrisburg facility. But Incinerator Director John Lukens says the contractor has insufficient funds to correct "design deficiencies," and the Harrisburg Authority, which owns the burner, is looking for ways to pay for completing the overhaul.

The uncertainty over the incinerator puts council in the uncomfortable position of having to approve a budget on faith, with the likely pros pect of re opening it when the burner is functioning properly. Meanwhile, it is much more certain that taxes will be increased and some serv ices -- and possibly personnel -- will have to be cut.

The administration already has had one round of layoffs, including elimination of the city's police cadet class, after council refused to borrow the full $14 million Mayor Stephen R. Reed had sought last month to cover a deficit in the 2006 budget.

One thing that seems clear to us is that Harrisburg's financial condition cannot be allowed to evolve into crisis mode again. The administration needs to be much more transparent with its fiscal information throughout the year, and City Controller Jim McCarthy needs to be a more visible watchdog on spending.

But it is also clear that completing the work on the incinerator is key to avoiding a crisis next year. If the project requires an outside consultant or builder, the city really has no choice but to hire one.

One thing not needed at this stage of the process is assignment of blame. Strictly avoiding fingerpointing and hoping to bring council and the mayor together in addressing the budget crisis is the goal of a coalition of city clergy, who are volunteering their help in solving the financial issues in the near term and in planning strategically for Harrisburg's future in the longer term.

The clerics have met with Reed and council members, and have provided an independent analysis of the budget from a Mechanicsburg consultant, Dr. Saeed Gbadamosi, who is also a certified public accountant.

Comprising both black clergy from the Interdenominational Ministers Conference and pastors of mostly white congregations, the coalition wants to promote cooperation and greater citizen participation in the city's ongoing renewal.

"People are willing to come into the city because of the mayor's good work," said the Very Rev. Churchill Pinder, dean of St. Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral, but now those people should be enlisted to help sustain it.

The focus on cooperation and participation represented by the religious coalition is an important sign of stability and shared purpose that should help council and Mayor Reed find common ground in working to stabilize the city's finances. Certainly everyone's future in Harrisburg hinges on solving the current crisis.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1166505940155980.xml&coll=1

HARRISBURG CRISIS
Projection for burner clouds city budget
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Will Harrisburg's municipal waste incinerator finally burn efficiently, or will it keep burning through money?

That's the single biggest question affecting the city's financial future. But just two days before Harrisburg's 2007 budget is to be adopted, there's still no clear answer.

At a budget hearing marked by visible frustration and exasperation, City Council members last night all but rejected projections showing that the poorly performing incinerator would generate $27 million next year.

"This is a flawed budget," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said. "It is not based on anything actual or true."

The incinerator, which underwent an $80 million overhaul in 2005, pulled in just $8.8 million this year -- underperforming its 2006 budget by $14.3 million and contributing mightily to the city's financial woes, which erupted this fall.

As a result of a $13.8 million deficit, Mayor Stephen R. Reed has proposed a 17 percent property tax increase for 2007. The city has borrowed $7.2 million, and 32 workers have lost their jobs.

The plant in south Harrisburg was designed to incinerate 800 tons of trash daily and generate steam and electricity for sale. But the renovated plant came on line about four months late this year and failed to performed anywhere near its rated capacity.

Council members pressed city officials for a more realistic estimate of what the plant would generate for 2007. Council is preparing to vote Thursday on a $135.2 million spending plan -- a budget already plagued by a $3.5 million deficit and carrying a proposed tax increase.

"Your revenue from this is not going to be $27 million next year," council Vice President Susan Brown Wilson said. "You still have some major down time that is going to occur. It's just not going to happen. You are not dealing with reality."

Incinerator Director John Lukens conceded that the burner's budget for 2007 assumed that an estimated $12 million in improvements that are needed for the incinerator to run efficiently would have been well under way. But the work hasn't started and there's still no money or timetable for when the plant would be fixed.

"It's the best budget I could put together based on the expectation of things getting done," Lukens said. He added that he didn't know if the budget could be revised in time for council's vote on Thursday.

The incinerator's builder, Barlow Projects Inc., still does not have the financing to complete the incinerator and fix "design deficiencies" in the burner's ash-handling and air-flow systems, Lukens said.

He added that the Harrisburg Authority, the city agency that owns the facility, is exploring ways to pay for the work, calling the improvements vital to the plant's operational and financial success.

However, Lukens could not say when the plant might be fixed.

"The longer it takes to get this thing done, the more it impacts our operation," he said. "If we don't get this taken care of, we are not going to generate revenue. The end result is, we're not going to be able to pay the debt service."

Under the worst-case scenario, the responsibility for making payments on the $228 million in incinerator-related debt would fall to the city and its taxpayers. In 2007, the debt payments totaled $13.5 million.

"I am worried," Councilman Dan Miller said. "It seems very likely that we will have a big problem."

"We have debt service payments on something that does not function," Wilson added. "We are going to be right back here again next October."

Robert Kroboth, assistant city budget director, pointed out that the Harrisburg Authority does have contingency funds for debt service payments and sets aside money monthly to meet upcoming payments.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

WHAT'S NEXT

City Council is to vote on Harrisburg's $135.2 million budget for 2007 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. The plan calls for a 17 percent property tax increase. The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $150 more a year, for a total of $1,010 annually in city taxes.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1166500529309460.xml&coll=1

Deficient burner spews red ink
Incinerator could add to tax burden of Harrisburg residents
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News