HARRISBURG—
The Harrisburg Authority, the organization that oversees the city's debt-saddled trash incinerator, has not been able to pay its contractors since a May court ruling ousted all of its board members.At the authority's first public meeting since April, William Cluck, one of two reappointed members, read a letter from a contractor that did work for the authority.
Cluck did not give the name of the business.
He said the business was in financial trouble because its owner was counting on payments for work done for the authority.
Cluck said the lack of payment is unacceptable.
"They've been waiting to be paid, and we can't pay them right now, and some of them are going bankrupt, some of them are going out of business," he said.
Cluck said the first obligation to pay contractors should fall to Covanta, the company that operates the Harrisburg trash incinerator.
He said Covanta is waiting to be reimbursed for a loan to the authority.
"I think it's unfortunate that Covanta has decided to hold them hostage," Cluck said.
Meanwhile, Cluck wants to make emergency plans for contractors.
"I promise they will be paid," he said. "I'm not going to let somebody go bankrupt because we can't get our act together."
For weeks, Harrisburg City Council and Mayor Linda Thompson have been in a tug-of-war over who will fill empty authority board seats.
With the exception of Cluck and J. Mark Kurowski, all of the mayor's nominees have been denied.
Some council members want the old board back, especially former member Neil Grover.
"He is absolutely essential to our ability to move forward on the issues of debt restructuring and how we handle the budget," Cluck said.
Last week, the authority got a judge's order allowing it to purchase insurance and avoid a gap in coverage.
Members voted Wednesday to approve that order in public, but it' was the only thing they were allowed to do without a quorum.
