Council to discuss SPSA sale

Joint meeting with School Board also set

By Tracy Agnew (Contact) | Suffolk News-Herald

Published Saturday, January 31, 2009

Suffolk City Council will discuss a proposal to buy the Southeastern Public Service Authority, as well as the city’s capital improvements plan, when it meets on Wednesday.

The council’s work session will begin at 3 p.m., and the regular meeting at 7 p.m., in City Council chambers in the municipal building, 441 Market St.

During the work session, council members will discuss a proposal by New York-based ReEnergy Holdings, LLC to buy the beleaguered trash disposal authority and its assets. The SPSA board rejected the proposal last month, without a public vote or discussion. The authority is mired in about $240 million of debt, and is set in April to consider raising the tipping fee to $245 per ton, the highest such fee in the nation. Suffolk pays no tipping fee, because it hosts the regional landfill.

ReEnergy Holdings has offered to buy the authority and its assets at a price that would allow it to pay off most of its debt. After SPSA’s rejection of the offer, ReEnergy launched a Web site, www.sellspsanow.com, to garner public support for the sale.

Also during the work session, a joint School Board/City Council meeting will be held to discuss the fiscal year 2010-2019 capital improvements plan.

One component of the draft plan, the proposal to give the school board money for a combined school to replace Southwestern and Robertson Elementary schools, has caused some tension between school board and council members.

At the last Planning Commission meeting, the commission voted to remove the word “combined” from the line item setting aside $23 million for the school, effectively recommending a replacement of Southwestern and renovation of Robertson, as the School Board has been recommending.

During Wednesday’s meeting, council members will vote to schedule a public hearing for Feb. 18 to receive public comment on the capital improvements plan.

Also during the regular meeting, council will consider and possibly vote on an ordinance amending city code to reorganize each city board and commission so that each has only eight members – one from each borough and one appointed at-large.

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