Town looks to end sewer contract
by JESSICA L. FINCH AND KIMBERLY KARCHER Amherst and Clarence Editors

Clarence wants details, Amherst wants money - the debate over the sewer bill continues between both towns.

(See editorial on page four)

Amherst Council Member Shelly Schratz said the town is taking steps toward ending its contract with Clarence because of more than $400,000 remaining in unpaid sewer bills.

Research is being done by Amherst departments to determine if a state environmental quality review is needed to move forward with termination of the contract. Schratz said as soon as a resolution can be written it will go before the Amherst Town Board for a vote.

Should the board approve the termination of the contract, that would give Clarence a one-year notice.

"I have done everything in my power, made every attempt, to get payment," Schratz said, adding that for three years she has attended meetings and sent letters requesting the payment.

She said on several occasions she worked with Clarence to create a formula of payment that both towns agreed on. The same had been done with Erie County, which paid the town in full a few years ago.

Most recently she sent a letter on Sept. 22 stating, "I am asking you to make full payment to the Town of Amherst within the next two weeks."

Schratz added that details of the bill can be discussed, but Clarence has refused to make any type of payments to date.

On the other hand, Clarence Town Supervisor Kathy Hallock said terminating the contract is not an option.

"Not under the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation). They would never allow it," Hallock said when informed of Amherst's plans. "It would become a health issue."

Hallock said the town wants to come to an agreement on the matter as well, but it's Amherst officials who have been holding up the process.

"We have requested certain information regarding the bill," Hallock said. "They have yet to provide that information."

Hallock said Clarence is requesting information regarding

contract some of the charges on the bill and how they were determined.

"How they were charging ... doesn't agree with what they were reporting to the state," Hallock said. "And how did they come up with the percentage of time (man hours) to charge us? It would just require employee records; we don't necessarily need names."

Hallock said Clarence has made several attempts to contact Amherst officials but has not received word back on the matter.

"We hired a firm that wrote to the Amherst town attorney in August, and I believe a copy of that letter was sent to everybody; we still have not heard from the attorney," Hallock said. "Shelly came into see us on Sept. 22 and following that meeting our attorney (Steve Bengart) wrote to the Amherst supervisor (Satish Mohan) on Oct. 2 along with the town attorneys, the comptroller, town engineer and reiterated that we have made several attempts to obtain information. We still have not received the information we have requested."

Hallock also noted that over the summer, the Town of Clarence offered to put money into an escrow account while Amherst gathered the requested information, and upon the Town of Clarence's review and approval of the charges, the money in the account would then be used to pay the bill. The deal was never struck between the two towns, and the escrow account was never started.

Hallock, however, said that the offer is still on the table.

"We are still willing to put money into escrow," she said. "A couple of years ago we did pay them on an interim basis, and then we questioned some of the charges back then, requested information on those bills and still haven't gotten that information years later. We don't want to pay a bill that isn't due, but we do want this matter settled."

Amherst Town Attorney Tom Jones said Clarence is illegally withholding money, and the town should pay. He said any disputes with the bill can be addressed, but Clarence has an obligation to Amherst.

Jones added that the current contract does allow for Amherst to end the agreement with a one-year notice to Clarence.