SWA to sue scrap dealer over missed payments

The county's solid waste authority voted Thursday to seek a judgement against a scrap metal dealer who is over $10,000 behind in payments for recycling.

The authority has been attempting to collect some $12,000 in payments for scrap metal recycling owed by Robert Madeo of South East Recovery Group.

In July, the authority voted to send a certified letter to the company requesting that payment be made within 30 days. The company has been behind on payments since April.

South East Recovery Group was awarded the contract last December at 65 percent of the average of the first and third Friday's price of metal on the New York Stock Exchange, after Middle Tennessee Metal Recovery fell behind on payments to the county in 2008 due to falling metal prices caused by the economic downturn.

However, Highway Superintendent Stanley Smotherman, who manages waste disposal for the authority, reported Thursday that Bob Henning of Middle Tennessee Metal Recovery has now paid in full.

Smotherman told the authority that attorney M. Wyatt Burk of law firm Bobo, Hunt, White & Nance said it would cost the county $300 to file a judgement against Madeo and $600 to $700 if he contests it.

Smotherman also pointed out that $1,000 in legal fees have already been spent on the matter.

Burk communicated to the authority last month that Madeo was unwilling to voluntarily agree to a proposed promissory note arrangement, and that he felt that he should not be required to pay interest on the money he owes the county.

Authority members also suggested that a claim could be filed against Madeo's assets over the next 10 years.

The authority has yet to award a new contract for scrap metal recycling and voted to form a committee to look for the best deal and make a recommendation next month.

Smotherman said that the county needed a long-term contract. Authority member Bill Lewis suggested that bidders who have had problems paying the county in the past should be omitted from the process.

Paint progress

Solid Waste Coordinator Gay Ervin told the authority about progress in creating a paint recycling facility to be located at Shelbyville's transfer station.

A concrete pad has been poured and Ervin said she hopes the facility will be open by the first of the year.

Ervin had spoken to Shelbyville public works director Mark Clanton about putting the equipment at the station earlier this year, but work was delayed due to the collapse of the underground storm water flume in May.

The only requirement for the authority is to supply the materials and Clanton said he would do the rest with inmate labor. The paint recycling would be available Monday through Thursday and on certain Saturdays that would be announced later.

Ervin's paint recycling proposal will cost a little over $1,000 and would only require two 20-yard roll-off bins -- one for empty paint cans and the other to be used for paint absorption, as well as a few relatively inexpensive items.

The bin would be filled with a load of wood chips to absorb the paint, which would be taken to a landfill. The largest expense in the proposal would be a carport shed for a shelter to keep the paint dry.

The recycling would only have to be done one day every three months and Marshall and Coffee counties already use the same process, Ervin said at the time.