City loses legal fight with pellet maker

Appeal of decision is possible

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> A state Supreme Court judge has ruled against the city in its bid to sever a contract it has with the company that made fertilizer pellets from sludge processed at Kingston’s wastewater treatment plant.

The city could appeal that decision to the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department.

The Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee on Monday endorsed a resolution authorizing the city to transfer $175,000 from the sewer fund balance to cover the cost of existing legal fees and to appeal the decision of Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott. The committee’s action came after it met in a closed-door session with city Corporation Counsel Kevin Bryant.

The resolution to appeal was to be voted on by the full council at its meeting Tuesday evening. That meeting took place too late for inclusion in this article,.

Following the committee meeting, Bryant said Mott handed down his decision last Thursday in the lawsuit with Aslan Environmental Services of Tarrytown. He said the city had made a motion for a summary judgment to sever the contract it had with Aslan. Aslan, in turn, filed a motion for a summary judgment to declare the city breached the contract and to dismiss its complaint, Bryant said. He said Mott denied the city’s motion and granted Aslan’s.

If Mott’s decision stands, it would make the contract with Aslan valid and enforceable, Bryant said. He said the financial impact on the city from that would be “significant.”

In 2004, the Common Council and then-Mayor James Sottile agreed to lease pellet-making equipment from Aslan for use at the city’s wastewater treatment plant on East Strand. The agreement called for Kingston to pay Aslan $19,600 per month, with an increase of 3 percent each year. A year later, the contract was extended until December 2020.

Since September 2015, though, the city has been sending its sludge to the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency because the equipment used to convert the sludge to fertilizer pellets broke down and was not repaired.

Both the city and Aslan claimed in the lawsuit the other side breached the contract.