By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
NEWPORT — The town of Newport will allow the Economic Development Corporation of Newport (ECON), a nonprofit economic development group, until the end of the fiscal year to repay an outstanding bill of approximately $172,000, as the nonprofit town partner seeks a funding resolution for its defunct ash landfill.
ECON took ownership of the landfill in 2006, five years after its closure, largely as a benefit to Newport. The landfill had previously belonged to the waste management district that included Newport and 26 other municipalities.
By acquiring the property, ECON and the town of Newport could prevent another private ownership group from taking over the land. Town officials had worried that owners outside the community might turn the site back into a landfill or into another undesired use.
Importantly the landfill came with a $1.1 million trust with ample funds to cover the property’s maintenance and environmental monitoring for at least 30 years. At the time of acquisition ECON believed, based on the agreement, that it would only need to fund the remaining years of the site’s 30-year post-cleanup and any money remaining in the fund would go to ECON.
But in 2016, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) stopped allowing ECON to draw down the fund, now saying that ECON must maintain a fund balance of at least $992,000 for a “rolling” 30-year period.
In other words, ECON, who has already drawn down the fund balance to approximately $756,000, could no longer access the trust fund to cover annual maintenance and monitoring costs.
“It was kind of a backdoor sucker punch, in my opinion, of the state, not giving anyone notice or fair warning that this was a new or different kind of interpretation,” Newport Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg said. “It just kind of emerged over the last three to five years.”
For the past five years, the town of Newport has maintained the property at its own expense and paid for the monitoring, which is subcontracted to Nobis, an environmental services company based in Concord.
On Monday, ECON, which is currently working on a funding solution with both NHDES officials and local state legislators, asked the selectboard to extend ECON’s repayment deadline to the end of the current fiscal year.
ECON currently has the money to repay, explained Bruce Jasper, vice-president of ECON. But the organization worries about paying the bills until having assurance that the state would reimburse ECON for expenses already paid, should an agreement be reached.
ECON was established in 1992 through the Newport Selectboard to help spur economic growth and opportunities in Newport. The nonprofit corporation works in close partnership with the town and, while not a municipal body, is frequently considered an extension of the town’s operating plan.
“I think it’s important to remember that ECON was born from [the selectboard] and that we are all together and collectively ‘Newport’,” said ECON member Kate Luppold. “
While ECON has money in its coffers to theoretically cover the rolling 30-year fund, to divert ECON’s money intended for economic development to landfill management would be counterintuitive to ECON’s mission, as well as the town’s interests, ECON officials explained.
ECON, who met with state officials in September, hopes to form a consent agreement with NHDES, in which the department will permit use of the current fund to pay outstanding bills pending approval of a financial plan by ECON to restore the balance and maintain future costs.
ECON received a consent decree from the state about 10 days ago, Jasper told the selectboard. ECON has approximately 90 days to submit a plan to NHDES for review.
Additionally, two local state delegates, Senator Ruth Ward (R-District 8) and Rep. Skip Rollins (R-District 6), have submitted legislation to the assembly seeking authorization to allow ECON to access the trust fund.
The deadline date of June 30, 2022, represents the final day of the legislative term, and the last foreseeable date for potential legislative action. Jasper noted that a resolution might happen prior to this deadline to allow a sooner repayment.
The selectboard, while voicing support for ECON, also stressed the need for a definitive repayment deadline, as the town’s expenses to date are taxpayer-funded.
“First [the repayment timeline] was 30 days, then it was 90 days and now we are talking over a year,” said Vice-chair John Hooper. “[So] now it’s time for everyone to get together and set a drop-dead date. This is taxpayer money that needs to be reimbursed no matter what.”
Chair Jeffrey Kessler said his only concern was about setting a precedent that might cause other organizations or individuals to argue for receiving similar flexibility.
Others in attendance pointed to distinctions between ECON and most organizations. First, ECON has the money to repay Newport. Secondly, ECON, despite a differing organizational status, is essentially part of the town’s organization,
While ECON is still in the early stages of developing a long-term funding plan for the landfill, officials in September discussed going back to the 27 communities in the former waste management district to ask the communities to contribute to the post-cleanup fund.
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