BARNESVILLE — Ryan Township residents who are long-term delinquents on garbage collection payments and other accounts will find themselves paying for legal actions against them, such as liens.
At their Monday meeting, the township supervisors adopted an ordinance (2016-1) in a 2-0 vote. While the focus of the discussion at the supervisor’s May meeting was on garbage account delinquencies, the ordinance applies to any delinquent accounts to allow passing along of the fees.
The ordinance establishes a schedule of attorney fees, charges and interest to be added, pursuant to the Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act, to the amount due and to be collected on any delinquent account, including municipal claims, municipal liens, tax claims and tax liens due to Ryan Township.
“After it’s approved, I can start getting the first round of letters out to people who are behind on their garbage bills,” township solicitor Christopher Riedlinger said.
Riedlinger asked the supervisors as to what accounts should letters be sent, with Chairman David Morgan saying he would get a list of all delinquents for him.
Secretary Franklin Fetter said, “The habitual ones are the ones you want to get first.”
“The letters should be sent certified mail, so I’ll need addresses, parcel numbers and the amounts due,” Riedlinger said. “Now, keep in mind, you can get me a wider array of people than just the people who are the most in arrears. This is just the first step. The lien would be the second step. You really should send a letter to just about everybody who is way behind on their bills.”
Riedlinger said the filing of liens is at the discretion of the supervisors as the next step.
“Maybe we’ll do it for everyone who is in arrears except for this year,” Morgan said.
In addition to attorney’s fees, the ordinance also allows the addition of “reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket charges, costs, and fees incurred by Ryan Township in the collection of accounts ... These charges, costs and fees can include, but are not limited to, postage, copying, title searches, prothonotary fees to file and satisfy liens or other filings, and sheriff fees.”
Interest at the rate of 10 percent per year will also be assessed and added to the amount.
A schedule of attorney fees is an addendum to the ordinances, listed by hours to be charged for each task. The hourly rate is $100.
The township currently uses Creditech Inc. for delinquent collections. The company works to collect the delinquencies and adds a collection fee to the customer account. Since many or most of the accounts have been turned over to Creditech, the supervisors and Riedlinger considered the process if the township receives funds through the lien directly rather than receive the money through Creditech’s efforts.
“We have, in effect, bypassed Creditech, and if Creditech says that this account was turned over to us, we’re entitled to a fee for the collection of that money, but we didn’t get it because the bank called the township because of the lien,” Riedlinger said.
“We would probably be obligated to Creditech to pay them the collection fee,” Fetter said. “We have to talk to Creditech about it. It would only be fair.”
Riedlinger said that before any liens are filed, he would contact Creditech to discuss the matter.
In other business, project manager William N. McMullen of ARRO Consulting Inc., the township’s consulting engineer, gave his report that included road work on Chee Street and the three-year project through a Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
“There was a three-phase application last year. This year’s phase is all municipal-installed improvements, such as pipes and inlets,” McMullen said. “The application for 2017 is for a box culvert about eight feet wide and three feet high, and to replace pipes. For this grant application period (Phase II), it’s $85,000. For this year (Phase I), it was funded last year and the township got the money ($56,000) this year.”
McMullen also spoke about the township’s road program that will involve work on Chee Street. He said the cost for materials has dropped substantially due to reduced oil prices.
One bid was received for equipment rental. Tropp Contracting Inc., Pottsville, bid $34,570, which was accepted by the supervisors. The total cost for equipment rental and materials for the Chee Street repairs is $91,000.
The supervisors accepted the resignations of Donna M. and Timothy McGowan from the township Board of Auditors. The remaining member, Linda Fetter, presented two letters to the supervisors of residents interested in filling the vacancies, with the supervisors appointing Daniel A. Gerber and Pamela S. Smith.