Official gave township asphalt to son, investigator’s report says

A North Huntingdon commissioner arranged to have several truckloads of asphalt millings taken from a township public works yard and delivered to his son’s house in Irwin, where it was used to pave a driveway, according to a report by a private investigator hired by the township.

The report by Ideal Investigations & Security Group also noted that Commissioner David Herold, a former employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, had the asphalt material delivered by PennDOT employees using PennDOT dump trucks. Asphalt millings cost about $12 per ton.

The investigation was completed in April 2016; commissioners voted on May 17 of this year to make the report public. The township paid $640 for the report, officials said.

Kenneth Munshower, president of Ideal Investigations & Security Group, who interviewed more than a dozen individuals, including township employees and PennDOT officials, submitted an 11-page report in which he noted several individuals, including Mr. Herold, refused to cooperate.

Township commissioners asked for a report following disclosures last year that asphalt had been diverted from a public works yard for private use.

Names of some individuals who were interviewed during the investigation were redacted before the report was released. One was a Penn DOT worker who confirmed he had used a PennDOT truck to deliver asphalt millings to the home of Mr. Herold’s son. Another was a township worker who confirmed he had loaded at least two trucks with asphalt.

During a public hearing in February 2016, township police Detective Kirk Youngstead said four to five truckloads of asphalt millings had been diverted to pave a private driveway.

In April 2016, the commissioners voted to send the report to the Westmoreland County district attorney’s office, state police and the state attorney general’s office. District Attorney John Peck notified the township in July 2016 that he had referred the matter to the state attorney general because of “an appearance of a potential conflict of interest.”

Joe Grace, director of communications for the state attorney general, said in an email Tuesday that his staff cannot confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.

Mr. Herold declined to comment on the findings in the report. He said his attorney, Henry Moore, will respond to those statements “at the right time.”

At a May 11 special meeting of the commissioners, with Mr. Herold and Commissioner Mike Faccenda absent, Rich Gray, Darryl Bertani, Zach Haigis and Duane Kucera voted to make the Ideal Investigations report public. Commissioners’ president Tony Martino voted no.

In Mr. Munshower’s report, he said that Rich Albert, township public works director, told him that Mr. Herold repeatedly asked for materials from the township’s public works yard, and that Mr. Albert refused his requests.

Valerie Petersen, spokeswoman for PennDOT District 12, which includes Westmoreland County, confirmed Tuesday that Mr. Herold formerly worked for PennDOT.

She declined to comment when asked whether PennDOT was investigating the matter.

Township manager John Shepherd announced his resignation last week to take a similar position in New Jersey.