Now comes this.

From Ben Lanka

Fort Wayne residents have consistently paid more in garbage fees than the city needs to pay a contractor for the collection of trash and recyclables, but city officials said that surplus is needed to keep the department running smoothly.

Last year, residents paid about $1 million more in fees than the city spent on its energy and environmental services department, which oversees the garbage contract with National Serv-All. This year, the city projects a $700,000 surplus from the fees residents pay. Currently, the city department has about $1.6 million in reserves in the bank, which is kept separate from other city funds.

[...]

The city paid nearly $1 million less to Serv-All in garbage and recycling fees in 2008 compared with 2007.

Pat Roller commented, “We do not believe we have excess cash.”

Really? The city is acting as a utility. They’re over charging. They’re keeping the money.

Can you imagine the shit storm coming from the 9th floor if I&M was over charging and keeping the money?

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A thrill more than two years in the making was realized for a new Whitley County business Tuesday night as Whitley Environmental was awarded the $2.2 million recycling contract through the Whitley County Solid Waste Management District.

It’s worth the read. Go here.

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Fort Wayne, Ind. – The City of Fort Wayne has reached an agreement with National Serv-All to provide garbage and recycling collection services for 2010 at 2009 rates. National Serv-All’s current four-year contract with the City expires December 31, 2009. The proposed one-year deal, which requires approval by the Board of Works, would freeze rates at current levels, and calls for monthly meetings to improve service.

“This agreement is in the best interests of Fort Wayne residents,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “Citizens will not see their rates increase next year, and we have asked for provisions that will help improve service.”

Based upon the principle that open competition would best serve the needs of citizens, the City issued a Request for Proposals for garbage and recycling collection in July of this year. With a Request for Proposals (RFP), vendors must complete on price as well as performance factors. Five companies responded to the RFP. A proposal by Earth First was considered to be the lowest and most responsive. Because the company is a start-up, the City decided that further due diligence was warranted. In the meantime, National Serv-All challenged the process despite the fact that a Request for Proposals process was used to award National Serv-All its current contract.

The City’s use of the Request for Proposals process was based on a good faith interpretation of state law, a desire to open the process to competition, and an effort to assure citizens of the best price and performance. However, based on further research and opinion, it was prudently decided to spare citizens the risk and cost of potential litigation. Entering into a short-term agreement for garbage collection was determined to be the option that best served the interest of citizens and provided the lowest cost.

Walbridge is threatening to sue FWCS for the same reason. Now he can have two targets in his sights. One thing in Earth First’s proposal to the city that has not come up is the limits on the amount of trash you could place curbside. Earth First’s proposal would only allow you to fill one dumpster. If you had to place a few bags outside as well, you would have been required to go to the grocery store and “buy” stickers to place on them. Otherwise, they would not pick them up. Think about how that would sit during Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, etc. when you have extra trash. And what a financial windfall that would have been for Earth First.

The one-year agreement with National Serv-All allows the City to re-bid the garbage and recycling collection contract as early as July of 2010 (effective January 2011). The new bidding process will include a comprehensive review of the City’s solid waste operations; solicitation of public input regarding solid waste; and the development of updated bid specifications and contract terms that are consistent with the best practices of other municipalities. The City will also confer with experts in solid waste contracting to advise and assist in performing these activities.

“Without question, this was a difficult process,” Mayor Henry added. “However, by sticking to the principle of seeking competition as a means of providing citizens the best price and service, we’ve reached an agreement that not only saves money but ensures an even better bidding process in 2010.”

The one-year agreement between the City and National Serv-All will be sent to the Board of Works for its review during its regular meeting on October 14, 2009.

Now there’s really no need to follow-up with another story. For the better part of two weeks, 4-5 computers from Waste Management in Brampton, Ontario have been lurking around the site. Sorry WM, Earth First won’t be worth acquiring anytime soon.

They are attempting to get Whitley County’s trash contract. It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the outcome over there.

Bod-a-Bing!

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I decided to take time from cleaning the gutters today to give a small retrospective of Mayor Henry’s term in office. I’ve listed below some of Henry’s major non-accomplishments. It’s not all-encompassing, so feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section.

Backpedaling on the creation of a fire merit board. During his campaign, he stated he supported it.

Last year, Henry wrote: “I support a true merit system within the fire department. I will work with the union, the chief and the city council to pass into law a merit ordinance that works for all firefighters.”

And when it came around, Henry said this.

“The mayor does support a merit system that mirrors that of the police department,” Mitson said. “He’s not against the merit system but thinks the current legislation passed by the city council is flawed.”

The takeover of the Northeast Indiana Public-Safety Academy. More here.

Refusing to take part in the bridge summit last year between Allen County and Fort Wayne government executives.

Signing the ridiculous lighting ordinance that enables citizens to call the “light police” if they think a neighbor’s light is too bright.

From Fort Wayne Observed.

Council members Shoaff, Goldner, Tim Pape, D-5, Glynn Hines, D-6 and Marty Bender, R-at large voted for the law. Council members Brown, Didier, Tom Smith, R-1st, and Mitch Harper, R-4th, voted against it during both readings.

Henry presented a flat budget in 2009, in spite of HB1001 and a projected $2.1 million shortfall in property tax receipts. He then suggested an increase in local income taxes. Thankfully city council managed $2.5 million in budget cuts in spite of Henry.

Henry also suggested the City Council will likely have to take a look at increasing local income taxes. He initially suggested the council examine income taxes this year before saying it wasn’t needed for 2009.

Complete inaction on the High Performance Government Network contract. Graham Richard furtively crammed a $95,000 per year three-year contract down the city’s throat in the last days of his administration. If it had been $100,000 or more, it would have needed city council approval. More at FWP.

Not enforcing the contractual agreements his mentor Graham Richard saddled the city with regarding the Harrison Square development and Barry Real Estate. Where’s the leadership? Is he waiting for a brother in the real estate business to get a company formed?

Hiding the fact the city hired a firm to lobby for a casino in Fort Wayne. It took the city three months to come clean.

He also neglected to announce that three months earlier, the city hired a Cincinnati law firm, also to lobby for legislative passage of a bill to allow a casino referendum in the city.

The Indianapolis firm is to be paid $3,000 a month for a year. The Cincinnati firm, $3,000 a month for 14 months, plus an upfront payment of $15,000. This $93,000 is in addition to the $45,000 the city pays for a separate legislative lobbyist to handle other issues and to the $32,000 the city paid another lobbying firm to study the economic effects of gambling.

The city doesn’t have much to show for its money. No formal proposal to allow a Fort Wayne referendum was ever made, let alone voted upon, in this year’s legislative session.

Bowing down to pressure from Glynn Hines’ bitching that we needed more “people of color” on the 9th floor, and hiring Vince Robinson as PIO, in part, because he’s black. Don’t get me wrong, Vince is capable and more than qualified, afterall he worked for Graham. But in recent weeks, Vince has displayed he’s really “into” the non-transparency thing.

“It just so happens that Vince Robinson is also a minority so he fulfills two of my goals and that was to have a professional working for us as well as someone of color,” Mayor Henry says.

Hines: They’ve let down the African-American community in not having a single African-American at a department head..

Attempting (successfully) to sneak in an additional $4 million in the financing arrangement for Renaissance Square, a 28 percent increase.

The use of CEDIT funds for the unnecessary destruction of Calhoun street , which has nothing to do with economic development.

The use of CEDIT funds for Renaissance Square, which has nothing to do with economic development.

The building will be purchased for $7.3 million from Renaissance Square, LLC. Renovations and furnishings will add approximately $7.2 million to the budget for a total cost of $14.5 million. The purchase funds will come from County Economic Development Income Tax dollars .

Presenting a 2010 budget that does nothing to prevent a future shortfall as property tax revenues continue to decline. He’ll most likely call for a tax increase next year instead of being prudent.

It gets the city through 2010 and gives the city time to seek other sources of revenue and lobby the state for changes that would help, Henry said.

“What we’re doing is buying time,” Henry said.

While he buys buildings and gets his friends into the trash business.

Giving city employees a 1.5% raise, when almost 10% of the Fort Wayne’s workforce is unemployed.

Refusing to release the video of the José Baudilio Lemus-Rodriguez shooting.

Attempting to give I&M the boot, in spite of the fact that I&M employs 352 employees with an annual payroll of $27 million. They pay $2.5 million in annual property taxes and donate $500,000 a year to local nonprofit groups. Last year they spent $12 million in the aftermath of the ice storm, bringing in over 1500 workers to restore power.

Henry has also continued to refuse to disclose how much the city has spent on attorney fees in the ongoing senseless feud.

Makes you wonder if he has a brother in the power business.

And the crown jewel of Henry’s accomplishments, the Earth First contract. If you’re unaware of what’s going on with that, you can read about it here.

Okay, what did I miss?

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The Henry administration has hired H.J. Umbaugh & Associates to study Earth First’s financial health. This begs two questions.

Why are we paying someone to study only Earth First’s financial health? That should be a task Earth First should provide on its own for city council review. If it is required, why are we spending money with a CPA firm out of Indianapolis? There are plenty of qualified Fort Wayne CPA firms that can analyze financial statements and balance sheets.

Maybe none of the Fort Wayne firms lean democrat?

Among Umbaugh’s top executives we found they regularly contributed to democratic candidates, including Jill Long, Joe Hogsett, Katherine Lyon Davis, John Fernandez, Frank O’Bannon and others. We’re just saying..

In an article by Kevin Leininger last Thursday was the following:

“It’s crazy. I had no idea there would be all this blowback,” said Jerry Henry, a local businessman who said he received a small ownership stake in Earth First in exchange for office space near the Summit Recycling & Transfer facility he and partner Bruce Warshauer are completing at 2509 E. Pontiac St. The transfer station, which will collect trash and other materials from various customers and sort it before shipping it for disposal or recycling, was not established in anticipation of winning the city contract, said Henry and Warshauer, who also received a 5 percent share of Earth First.

Earth First was promising a greater emphasis on recycling, although we’ve yet to see any details.

Two months after Earth First incorporated, an investment group was formed headed by Jerry Henry and Bruce Warshauer called SRT Investments, LLC. SRT then bought the assets of G&S Metal Consultants in Wabash. The sale included the assets of G&S Transportation, which is now known as SRT Transportation, LLC., (incorporated in Sept 2009).

G&S Metal Consultants is an ongoing operation that specializes in aluminum recycling. It gives you pause when you think about how many aluminum cans Fort Wayne’s trash may contain. We’re not certain about the number of trucks SRT Transportation has on the road, but they certainly could haul the trash to Jay County, and the aluminum from Summit Recycling’s transfer station to Wabash.

Earth First is now has this web site. You won’t find a link on their site to this page however. Seems they’re fighting back.

At the end of the day, Jerry Henry will be successful with Summit Recycling with or without Earth First, he has the Midas touch.

It’s going to be interesting to watch how city council handles whatever option hot potato is placed in front of them.

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For the record, Dean is the brother of Vince Robinson, Fort Wayne Public Information Officer.

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Karen Goldner on October 8th, 2009 8:51 am

The successful vendor will have to provide a $3 million performance bond, which theoretically covers about 4 months worth of service. That is not to say that such an abrupt transition would be desirable in any way, but we do require such a bond.

[...]

I do think that it is unwise to think that fuel prices won’t go up over the next 7 years. But more significant than the fuel issue, which is speculative, is the fact that the vendor needs to have about 2 months worth of operating cash available in order to handle the accounts receivable from the City.

We pay in a couple of weeks, but the contractor will begin incurring expenses in mid-December when they hire their crews for training and their trucks arrive, and then they will make weekly or bi-weekly payroll, truck payments, etc. in December and January, and they don’t bill the City until Feb. 1 for January services. We take a week or two to review the bill, cut the check, etc., and the contractor has to be able to finance that time period – LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS. We pay promptly, but we don’t pay weekly, and we shouldn’t have to. Based on the numbers provided BY EARTH FIRST, the company can’t cash flow that time period.

I’m not sure what their plan is, exactly, but it looks to me that by Valentine’s Day they will be in big trouble, regardless of fuel prices. I would like to think differently but when I ask EF for a business plan I am directed to extremely sketchy information that does not make me feel more secure.

Her complete comment is here.

Hat’s off to Karen for actually looking at their business plan. Based on this comment, maybe that’s why Jerry Henry no owns part of the company.

I think this may be the end of Earth First controversy. Mayor Tom dodged a bullet.

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We all know the matter of the casinos when Mayor Henry insisted he wanted only to hear the word of the people, but had already gone ahead with hiring a firm to lobby for a casino. We know that they misrepresented aspects of the Calhoun Street project to sway votes, we know that they have covered facts in the Earth First garbage contract for whatever purpose, seemingly for purposes of cronyism and nepotism. So, it should have been no surprise when they hid two other factors in the purchase of the new city hall.

Tom Smith was the first to spot the inconsistency buried in a document sent down from the mayors office: instead of the 14 million price tag for the building there were an additional $4 million included in the financing arrangement. Smith asked for an explanation. Two attorneys representing the city explained in a way to confuse the question. Smith asked again. They explain again and Smith said he was angry. He should have been, what was sold to council as a $14 million purchase and renovation project had become $18 without an explanation from the administration. Tom Henry just sent the revised number down to council without an explanation. Perhaps he wanted to see if they were paying attention. Smith was.

Tom Didier grew increasingly angry. Finally he said some things about how his customers just want to know the bottom line of a deal, they don’t want to be nickled and dimed with additional costs as the deal continues. The administration has just raised the cost by $4 million without the courtesy of informing the council president or, apparently, their two men on council, Marty Bender and Tim Pape,

Pape offered a defense of the 28 percent project increase by explaining part of the costs were simply customary fees, while the rest was the last payment. The attorneys chimed in that given interest rates now was the time to borrow the extra money, that last payment. Didier’s question remained unanswered, “why didn’t you just tell us?”

So, when the vote came, Bender voted yes immediately. His boss is the mayor, after all. His vote is always compromised. He made no comment, just did as he was instructed. Brown, who often pillories officials for lesser oversights, also voted quickly yes. Glynn Hines touted the jobs that would be created in renovating the building and voted yes. Goldner saw no problem supporting her friends on the 9th floor. Harper voted against, Smith commented on the disingenuousness of the administration’s actions, voted no, Shoaff added to Smith’s comments and voted no; and Didier voted no. Didier was shaken. You could see if from the gallery. He was angry. He felt betrayed. Three members of council have long noted this administration can not be trusted, now Didier has come to the same conclusion.

So, the whole deal comes to $28 million, not $14, as sold by the Henry Administration.

The first extra $4 million comes from fees of the sort that are oft included in a home purchase, loan origination, underwriting fees, etc. Lawyers. The additional $10 million, first mentioned last Tuesday night, again to the surprise of a few at the table, was an estimate of interest on the bond that will be floated to pay for the building. Expect that figure to go higher, too.

Anyone who has purchased a house knows about the fees. It just would have been a different discussion had the administration been honest with council. Pape, however, tried to explain a portion of that extra $4 million as “normal,” as a “last month’s payment.” That is not necessarily true. A deal can be structured however the participants wish to structure it. The fact remains the administration sold the deal at $14 million. They tried to sneak in another $4 million and scrambled at council, through their man Tim, to rationalize it..

I asked a council member if they had yet seen the full purchase agreement and the answer was no. I have purchased many buildings in the past 20 years. I demand to see each purchase agreement before signing. I demand at least 24 hours to review each and every agreement or I will not go to the closing. Council should not either. Council should demand to see the agreement and have an independent evaluation done to determine whether this is a good deal or a bad deal, Otherwise they are buying a pig in a poke and you can believe they saddle us with many more “unexpected” expenses of providing Tom Henry with a new city hall. Council, in this regard, is letting us down.

The next surprises, unless council does it’s due diligence, will come in the form of hundreds of thousands in change orders when the administration finds “unexpected” problems with the building.

Bottom line, the administration is not to be trusted. Smith, Harper and Shoaff have learned that on a variety of issues, now Didier has been blindsided. Let us see if this prompts him to be more careful and critical of items that come to council. In the meantime, Mr. Smith, who spotted the little surprise needs to get a third party to go over the agreement with him to determine if their are other little time bombs set to explode.

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Jon A. Bragalone
1400 One Summit Square
Fort Wayne , IN 46802

Bragalone is an attorney with Carson Boxberger, LLP along with councilman Pape.

Pape disclosed that one of his law partners represents Earth First and is a 5 percent owner of the company.

He said it was a good thing the city has received competition for this service and noted that Earth First’s proposal was the least expensive of all the others.

“If we get competition for the garbage contract, we save millions,” Pape said.

Question. How would he know it was millions unless he saw the contract?

Now, City Council Attorney Joe Bonahoom is stating that the RFP process should not have been used, and the contract should be re-bid. We questioned the use of an RFP yesterday.

This is a $9 million a year contract, and typically cities issue a call for competitive bids for contracts of this scope. This contract was not placed for bid. Instead, there was a call for “request-for-proposals,” or RFP’s. This allowed the city to pick whomever they deem best suited for the job.

Also, on WOWO last FWP is reporting he heard that Gregg Walbridge, president of Earth First stated Jerry Henry has given up his 5% stake in the company. I assume he still owns the transfer station, Summit Recycling.

Lanka is also reporting that the city is once again sitting down again with National Serv-all to discuss extending their existing contract.

Here’s a point I’ve not hit on. Personally, I don’t think the city should be in the garbage business. Let private enterprise determine who services the residents. I liked it better when I had a choice. But no, Graham Richard had to buy 80,000 containers at a cost of $3.7 million to make sure the streets looked pretty and all of the dumpsters were one color.

Why not require residents to use a dumpster from whichever service they use and get the hell out of the garbage business?

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Jerry Henry, an honest guy, but a tough businessman, is said, by opponent Mark GiaQuinta, to be a principle of Earth First, the company which was low bidder for the city garbage contract. Gregg Walbridge, a real estate developer is the managing partner of the recently formed company. I heard a third name, but can not remember it. Earth First is also the name of the earth liberation people who burn buildings in Colorado. I love their work. This Earth First has no trucks and no dump, but can get a loan to rent trucks and will pay a dump fee to the Republic site. I also heard that there is a key player who owns the land to the north of the Republic dump who will greatly benefit from this as his land will now become more valuable, they say, I do not remember that name either, but the tax rolls should shed some light. GiaQuinta said the money in garbage is made by the landfill operator, not the hauler.

So, there was a process and surprisingly the mayor’s brother won the contest. I am sure he did not have inside information and that no winks no nods were executed. They are doing this only to benefit the community and take back our city from outside forces. Perhaps. It sure looks like an inside deal, if all that GiaQuinta mentioned is true. Given that he represents the opponents of Earth First grains of salt should be taken with every bite.

So, last night, Marty was not supposed to read the bill, although it was on the agenda. He was to skip over it, but being Marty the big guy just couldn’t read his lines. Apparently, the mayor’s handwriting is small and illegible. When he read it Clerk Kennedy was aghast. She rolled her eyes, as reported by one council member, and whispered that “he was not supposed to read that!” Purcell, at that moment, was sitting next to Mr. GiaQuinta. He was not happy, either.

GiaQuinta said that he contacted Purcell during the day and thought he had persuaded the administration to hold off on the contract “for their own good.” Given their lack of honesty with the casino fiasco, their lying on Calhoun Street, their failures on Harrison Square this could be seen as the last nail in a one-term coffin. Heck, we might next hire the incarcerated mayor of East Chicago to be our city consultant.

Editor’s notes:

According to an article by the JG:

The firm will occupy the former Fort Wayne Foundry site on Pontiac Street next to the solid waste transfer station owned by Summit Recycling & Transfer LLC. To get space for offices, a shop and truck parking, Earth First gave a 5 percent ownership stake to Jerry Henry, a principal in the transfer station and the mayor’s brother.

Makes it sound like Summit Recycling is an ongoing business, and according to Vince Robinson, city PIO, we shouldn’t be concerned.

Robinson said Jerry Henry’s connection to the bid had no influence on the company’s being selected. Jerry Henry said Tuesday he understands the concerns. City officials should take their time making a decision, he said.

Gregg Walbridge, managing member of the fledgling company, said the city would be his company’s first client, but he and others have years of experience in the business. Walbridge was previously part owner of National Serv-All, based in Fort Wayne.

National Serv-All (NSA) is the current city refuse provider.

Walbridge said Earth First would use the transfer station to sort recycled materials and ship garbage to Jay County, which provides a lower cost than the Allen County landfill.

Garbage is big business.

The Jay County Landfill is owned and operated by Waste Management, (WM). WM is the world’s largest company when it comes to solid waste, employing 46,000 employees with revenues in excess of $13 billion.

Currently our refuse is taken to a landfill off Smith Road operated by NSA. In 2002 Toro Energy constructed an eight mile underground pipeline from the NSA landfill to a nearby General Motors facility Southwest of Fort Wayne. Methane from the landfill is piped to GM for use as fuel for one of its boilers. General Motors saved $2.5 Million in fuel costs in 2006 by using this renewable energy source.

“It is nice to work with companies like General Motors and Toro Energy , who recognize the value of utilizing this energy source,” said Gregg Walbridge, Serv-All’s landfill Project Manager. “It offers a great opportunity to help both the environment and the economy.”

Walbridge background:

Gregg Walbridge’s name may ring a bell if you live at Lake James. Walbridge’s company, Southwest Development Group won approval to develop “The Coves of Lake James,” a 55-unit condominium project located in Gray’s Landing a few years back. The project was approved without lake access. According to members of the Lake James Association, Walbridge bought lakefront property in his secretary’s name (Ranell Bradfield) so as not to appear connected with the condo development on C.R. 300W. This was according to the members, an attempt by Walbridge to bypass existing regulations so he could build a “mini-marina” to support the 55 condo owners with lake access.

Our own caring little community is being invaded by Greg Walbridge of Southwest Development. He has big plans for a condominium development that could house 55 condo owners. Walbridge is attempting to funnel his way down our one lane private drive and squeeze lake access through a single family lakeside residential lot. From that lot he plans to grant lake access by creating a mini marina, providing 38-plus boat slips to his owners.

All of his progress to date been questionable. He purchased this single family residential lot under his secretary’s name. He has built fences without obtaining building permits. He also began construction of accelerate/ de-accelerate lane and culvert placement before necessary permits had been obtained.

Greg Hathaway
Lake James

Walbridge’s Southwest Development Group also attempted to develop Hamilton Meadows in Aboite Township, starting the project in 2005. A couple of years down the road, Cincinnati-based First Financial Bank took over possession of the development and sold it to another developer.

Southwest Development Group, the subdivision’s former developer, never broke ground on more than 100 lots – because of declining demand – and was unable to renegotiate a payment plan with its bank, said Gregg Walbridge, Southwest Development’s president.

Walbridge is also trying to sell 66 acres at U.S. 27 and Ferguson Road to be developed into a trailer park.

Listed by Gregg Walbridge

Address of Home: NW and SW corner of U.S. 27 and Ferguson Rd.
City: Fort Wayne
State: Indiana
Zip: 46809

Vacant Land

Status: Active
Lot Size: 66 acres
Price: $399,000.00

66 acre property zoned for mobile home park. Located at intersection of two 4 lane divided highways with entrance access already in-place. Less than 1mile from Interstate 469. Approx. 1 mile from new Walmart and Menard’s retail development. Sewer available

Just what Fort Wayne needs, another trailer park.

Walbridge also sits on Canterbury School’s board of trustees along with George Huber, who recently sold Renaissance Square to mayor Tom for our new city hall.

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