The Valley News, West Lebanon, New Hampshire, reports that Recycling Solutions Technology, the Kentucky-based investment group that recently proposed purchasing the Wheelabrator incinerator facility in Claremont, New Hampshire, requested a property tax agreement at the city council meeting Wednesday night, June 8, 2016.
Recycling Solutions Technology representative D.B. Kazee assured the council and residents in attendance that the company would convert the facility into an industrial recycling center and gasification plant for waste-generated electricity and would not restart the incinerator.
According to the Valley News, Kazee said the proposal would stabilize the tax base on the property and bring about 25 jobs that pay $14 to $15 per hour.
“We think it is the only viable use you are going to find for the Wheelabrator property,” Kazee said. “We think it would benefit the city and provide new employment.”
According to the newspaper, Kazee told the council that without a tax break, the city could only restart the incinerator or dismantle the property.
“Our emissions would be so much less than anything Wheelabrator did, it would surprise you,” Kazee said. “We feel this would be a success here if we have the opportunity.”
Resident Donna Montenegro said she was fearful of gasification, unsure about the effects it might have on the environment and residents, according to the Valley News. Her husband, Ernest, called the technology “suspicious,” the paper says.
“It has been around for years. There is nothing unknown, scary or suspicious about it,” Kazee said. “You are protected by the Department of Environmental Services to ensure any operation is safe from an emissions perspective.”
The Valley News reports that City Manager Guy Santagate said the assessed value of the plant has been cut to $2 million because of Wheelabrator’s inability to find a buyer and the highest bid at the most recent auction. That would equal about $83,000 in annual property taxes at the current tax rate, according to the paper.
Although no figure was mentioned for a possible tax agreement, Councilor Nick Koloski said he would not consider it worth it if the agreement turns out to be $60,000 per year for five years, the newspaper reports.
“If I’m asked to choose between the health and welfare of the community or $60,000, I’m clearly opting not to take the money,” he said.
