After talking about saving landfill, Pope is put on leave

Richard Pope unjustly suspended?

Jason Zona says he thinks there is a witch hunt in play; wants independent investigation.

Jeff Glatz drove off in Pope’s truck.

The proposal to study whether to close Niagara County Refuse District’s Cell 1A of the C & D landfill years before it is full has taken an apparent casualty.

Richard P. Pope, director of the Niagara County Refuse Disposal District, has been put on paid administrative leave, which, some are saying, is a retaliatory move by the Republican majority in the county legislature as a result of Pope’s comments that closing the landfill before it is filled is economically unwise.

Pope was relieved of duties last week, and required to turn in his county vehicle – which was delivered personally by County Manager Jeff Glatz to the county fleet storage facility in Lockport.

Under a cloud of allegations, Pope was sent home. The allegations include, according to sources, that he may have used his county vehicle for private use.

Legislators Jason Zona, Dennis Virtuoso and others say that Pope’s removal is an excuse to remove the man who could thwart the plan to close the landfill early.

They suggest the entire early closure plan is intended to benefit Modern Disposal, a major Republican campaign contributor. Modern would likely get most of the business once the county landfill is closed.

An investigation into Pope’s alleged improprieties will be conducted by Niagara County Attorney, Claude A. Joerg.

According to a report, prepared for the Refuse Disposal District Administrative Board by Pope and Marguax J. Lingle CPA, chief accountant for the Niagara Treasurers Department, the “best management practices” are to keep the C & D landfill open and fill it up with the refuse of paying customers. The C & D landfill made a profit of $224,977 in 2011.

Over five years, the landfill is estimated to make $1,124,885 in profit, which, according to a report by Wendel Engineers on June 13, 2012, “there (is) approximately 5 and ¼ years for cell 1A to reach final capacity.”
County Manager Glatz made it clear, at a recent Refuse board meeting, that he wants to close the facility sooner and get out of the business of operating landfills.

At the October meeting, Glatz contradicted Pope when he said the landfill makes a profit and several times encouraged Pope to change his answers at the open meeting.

There are about 59,000 cubic yards left before the C & D landfill reaches capacity. An earlier report in this publication laid bare the facts.

Closing the C & D landfill early will cost one million dollars to cap it, plus about $100,000 to buy waste to fill it up, according to studies.

Keeping it open will earn the county at least one million dollars, and, according to a report by Clough Harbor and Associates Engineering, by moving some of the waste, the county could take in $2.88 million over four years before spending the million dollars to cap it.

More than 50 small businesses pay money to get rid of their construction waste in the unused portion of the landfill.
Modern Disposal Inc. has contributed more than $50,000 to Republican elected officials in Niagara County and operate competing landfills.

This is not the first time Pope and Glatz had conflicting interests. Pope was a finalist for Glatz’s position as county manager in 2010.

When contacted for this story, a spokesperson for Glatz said he would decline to field questions that were not pre-screened. Calls to Legislators John Syracuse and Anthony Nemi were not returned.

In a previous interview, Glatz told the Reporter that the county landfill is a small facility. ”I would say what we do in a year, Modern does in like three days,” he said.

According to county officials, Glatz said that the county received an “anonymous letter” that sparked Pope’s sudden forced leave. Pope has hired Buffalo attorney Andrea Sammarco to represent him in this matter.

Zona, who is a member of the board of the Refuse District, said he is calling for an independent investigation. “If the intent is to eliminate him, I do not see how he is going to get a fair shake from the county attorney who serves at the pleasure of the Republican majority in the legislature. Pope has an impeccable record. If this is a witch hunt because he was willing to answer questions honestly, this is one of the biggest abuses of power I have seen. To put this man on leave, to go after his job is unconscionable.”

In an email written to Zona by Legislator John Syracuse, chairman of the Refuse and Disposal District board, Syracuse writes that he does not know if the C & D landfill makes money, despite studies that suggest it will save taxpayers money to keep it open until it is full.

“I am trying to get to the bottom of whether this C & D landfill is actually netting revenue, or does it cost money instead,” Syracuse wrote. “That being said, I think we need to look at the paradigm, and see if the data the county manager (Glatz) has, and coupled with the district director (Pope), we need to lead the district in another direction… I want as much input as possible so we, the district, can arrive at the best solution for the district taxpayers.”

County employee Dawn Timm, sources say, is slated to replace Pope.

In 2011, Timm, while working for the county, worked on a plan for the city of Lockport to get out of municipal garbage disposal. It resulted in Modern Disposal getting the contract for disposal in Lockport. Taxes in Lockport did not go down as promised, and a refuse disposal fee was added to residents’ tax bills.

Newly elected Niagara County Democratic Party Chairman Nick Forster, naturally enough, sees politics at play.

“Where there is garbage, there are rats,” Forster said. “Something stinks here. The Republican majority had plans with Modern Disposal to close the landfill. Once the question was raised (by Pope), why it was being closed early, they needed a fall guy and it was Richard Pope. Still, why would you close a revenue generating item years early, other than the fact that you can benefit parties other than taxpayers? Mr. Pope was not thrown a life preserver. He is being touted as a whistle blower.”