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Many Question Whether Rockland Green Operates With Full Transparency; Some Say Its Functions Should Be Absorbed Into County Government
By Tina Traster
Rockland Green has canceled its September public meeting – the second consecutive canceled meeting since July, and the fourth one since January.
These cancellations come at a time when Rockland Green is embroiled in three lawsuits, including one challenging its handling of toxic materials, and is building a $20 million animal shelter that has racked up costly change orders for the past couple of months.
Rockland Green typically meets on the last Thursday of the month at Clarkstown Town Hall at 5 p.m. The quasi-public authority’s bylaws written after the authority established its charter in 1994 call for its monthly meeting to be held at 8 p.m. (the bylaws allow for some flexibility, but they were written with the intent to keep the taxing entity transparent and accessible). Over time, constituents who’ve attended Rockland Green’s public meetings have requested the time be moved after “working hours.” Holding meetings at 5 pm, many have said, curtails the ability of working people to attend. None of its meetings are live streamed and no video of the meeting is shared. Its minutes do not record public comments.
Rockland Green Chairman Howard Phillips, who is also the long-serving Supervisor of the Town of Haverstraw, has never offered the public a viable explanation as to why the meetings take place at 5 pm. Phillips stepped in as interim chairman in April 2016 after former chairman Christopher St. Lawrence, who was Town of Ramapo Supervisor at the time, was arrested in a federal securities fraud case stemming from the financing of a local minor-league baseball stadium. St. Lawrence was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for fraud and conspiracy, banned from trading municipal securities, and ordered to pay $327,000 in civil penalties.
Every January Rockland Green elects its officers in a re-organization meeting. Phillips has held the chairmanship for a decade.
Many county residents are unaware of Rockland Green’s role and its impact on their taxes despite the large purse it controls. Holding monthly public meetings at a reasonable hour should be an imperative but Rockland Green operates outside of the county’s aegis. Rockland Green operates on a $90 million annual budget, taxing residents roughly $21 million in 2024. The voting board of the authority includes five town supervisors, two village mayors, seven county legislators and a representative from County Executive Ed Day’s office.
At one time, the board included citizen representation. It remains unclear why that post was eliminated.
Many say it is time for Rockland County to re-absorb Rockland Green’s functions under county control to create better oversight and accountability, especially given the magnitude of the future animal shelter, the bevy of lawsuits, and ballooning legal costs.
Rockland Green is spending at an alarming pace on everything from animal management to new projects you’ve probably never heard of. Legal fees to defend lawsuits are escalating, change-orders for the proposed animal shelter have already added $200,000 to the $20 million budget, the quasi-public authority is undertaking a $4.3 million upgrade for its offices at 172 Main Street in Nanuet, and it’s spending $580,000 to build an “immersive” theater in the basement of its headquarters.
The authority has a history of underestimating project costs. Rockland Green’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hillburn, which was bonded for $35 million with taxpayer money, required more than 175 “change orders” or increases to the bottom line. Change orders increased some contracts by 15 percent or more, and in one case by over $1 million.
While Rockland Green has bonded $18 million for the shelter project, the public authority is tapping into a $36 million surplus to pay for a raft of improvement projects at its headquarters. Budget watchers are asking why the public will be taxed to pay interest as high as 6.25 percent and principal totaling in excess of $40 million for the shelter over 30 years when the public authority has such deep pockets.
The Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority (now Rockland Green) was established to handle removal and recycling of waste. In 2022, the authority amid concern from county legislators, amended its charter to include Animal Management. Subsequently, County Executive Ed Day in 2022 agreed to contract with Rockland Green to take over the facility where Hi Tor Animal Shelter had run a nonprofit shelter supported by towns and donations for 50 years.
Rockland Green, which had contracted with Hi Tor to run the shelter, has been fighting a protracted legal battle with the nonprofit for nearly two years. The two sides are at an impasse, and a scheduled “settlement conference” in Rockland County Supreme Court scheduled for this week was cancelled and rescheduled for next week. Despite months of depositions and hearings, and related legal costs, there does not appear to be a consensus over how to resolve the legal dispute. Rockland Green has sued the shelter for $5 million, after ousting the entity in September 2023. In return, Hi Tor countersued, alleging Rockland County breached the contract, and owes Hi Tor reimbursement for expenses incurred while it was running the shelter.
That lawsuit is among three the authority is navigating. Rockland Green’s legal budget rose exponentially between 2022 and 2023 from $2.2 million to $4 million, partially due to its takeover of animal management in the county. For 2024, Rockland Green projected $3.1 million in legal fees but the final numbers came in at $4.1 million.
Richard Fenner, a 25-year veteran of the West Haverstraw Fire Department, is asking a Rockland County Supreme Court Justice for permission to sue Rockland Green for grievous injuries he suffered after being called out to extinguish a dumpster fire at Rockland Green’s transfer station on Beach Road in West Haverstraw last August. Fenner charges that Rockland Green mishandled toxic materials at the Bowline transfer station.
The third lawsuit calls into question the authority’s accountability and transparency.
Rockland County Business Journal (RCBJ) filed a lawsuit against Rockland Green in Rockland County Supreme Court in July, alleging that Rockland Green illegally withheld documents requested under New York’s Freedom of Information Law. The publication is seeking documents that explain and support the choice of contractor Rockland Green made for its $20 million animal shelter project. The awardee, that has never built an animal shelter, is located in North Carolina.
The Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) provides the public with the right to access to records maintained by government agencies, including state and local governments and public authorities, with some exceptions. FOIL was designed to promote government transparency and accountability, helping the public understand governmental decisions and is often used for purposes including gathering information for advocacy or journalism.
