Several Charleroi officials offered explanations and defended their absence from the Authority of the Borough of Charleroi meeting Tuesday.

The Authority of the Borough of Charleroi discussed its assessment of borough-owned sewer lines at a meeting Tuesday, but only one Charleroi official attended — Councilman Jerry Jericho.

The authority’s engineer submitted a nearly 200-page report last week, which was also given to the borough and its engineers for review. Council was encouraged by ABC to review those documents and attend Tuesday’s meeting for an executive session to further discuss the assessment.

That invitation was extended to all members of council, Borough Manager Matt Staniszewski, Solicitor Sean Logue and RVE engineers.

ABC officials learned yesterday that council had been directed by Logue not to attend.

Logue was asked by the

Mon Valley Independent prior to Tuesday’s meeting if the report from ABC was being discussed or reviewed by the borough, and if officials would be in attendance.

“I, the Solicitor of Charleroi Borough, have not been invited to any meeting,” Logue responded in an email. “To date, no written offer has been made by ABC for any asset of Charleroi.

“As such, I have advised council that there isn’t a point to attending any meeting if there still, after all these months and requests, isn’t an offer of any kind in writing. We are not discussing any deal in the media and we aren’t going to make a seven-figure sale based on a handshake.”

During council’s agenda meeting Wednesday, President Frank Paterra asked RVE Engineers if they had a chance to review the document.

Engineers said they had reviewed the document, but deferred comment to Logue for guidance as he was unsure if his findings should be discussed publicly or in an executive session.

Jericho asked engineers why they did not attend ABC’s meeting Tuesday.

Engineers said, based on

CHARLEROI • A2 FROM A1 what had been discussed with Logue, that they did not feel it would be something to be discussed at ABC’s meeting. “You were not there to see what was discussed,” Jericho said. “It was informational. There was no deliberation. They explained the eight-page report I passed out here. They showed us our sewage lines that we paid for in 2019 to have cameras and most people that saw these lines, you would know how bad they are. They are collapsed and clogged.”

Mike Meyer of RVE said he would agree, though his firm does have a lot of different comments on ABC’s report. “I would agree 100%,” Meyer said. “I don’t think there would be any discussion about that — you have bad sewer lines. They were built in 1930.”

Jericho then asked Logue directly why he told members of council to not attend. “First of all I was not invited,” Logue said.

Jerry countered back immediately, claiming he has email proof that the invitation was sent to Logue.

“You have an email with my address on it?” Logue asked.

“Absolutely,” Jericho replied. “Matt sent it out.”

“Well, my thinking is that we have not gotten an offer and as such, I did not see what the point was,” Logue said.

“You did not see the point?” Jericho asked. “A lot of these questions people have asked me and have been discussed here could have been answered last night and would have been answered last night. And no one was there. Which was disappointing and embarrassing.”

Paterra said he had planned to attend before being advised by Logue not to.

Councilman Randy DiPiazza and Councilwoman Nancy Ellis also wanted to set the record straight Wednesday that they did not attend because of health concerns.

“Truthfully Jerry, I think it is goofy we are negotiating through the media on a multi-million dollar project,” Logue said. “I keep hearing about hand-shake deals. Deals where you trust me and I trust you and maybe we can make something happen, but in the real world we don’t operate like that.

“In the real world, if you want to buy something you make a written offer. And the truth is that I told you this a bunch of times. If they are serious about buying it, send a written offer. If they are not serious about buying it, then they can keep (expletive) with you guys and smacking you on the butt and saying that, ‘I trust you Jerry.'”

He continued to explain what needs to happen from the authority for the borough to move forward, also noting he had reviewed and discussed the authority’s report at length with the borough engineer and there are multiple things of note they do not agree with.

“If you want to tell ABC to be serious, tell them to send us a real written offer the way it is supposed to be done and stop negotiating through the media and rubbing your back and telling you that you are doing it the right way,” Logue said.

The authority’s Solicitor Dennis Paluso took the podium to respond to Logue’s comments directly.

“Do you want to talk to me about the right way?” Paluso asked Logue. “What is the right way? You rejected the offer we gave you in December.” The authority made a verbal offer to the borough in December to purchase the sewer lines for $2 million, but nothing official had been submitted.

To formalize its intention, Paluso drafted an email offer to the borough Dec. 14 to solidify the authority’s stance and position on the matter and said a formal offer would be produced in writing following negotiations between both parties.

That deal was rejected by council Dec. 27 after being advised by Logue that the borough should do it’s minimum due diligence to see what the lines are worth.

At its own expense, ABC had its engineering firm, KLH, conduct an evaluation of the sewer lines, which was completed and discussed for the first time publicly on Tuesday, though ABC officials also intended to discuss the report directly with borough officials in executive session.

“This report needs to be discussed so everyone can know what is going on,” Jericho said. “Not in a room.”

“You know there is nothing to hide Sean,” Paluso said, going on to say he would hope to have a more positive discourse with council. “That is what was extended for you last night to come and talk privately.”

Paterra said it was embarrassing to read the article that appeared in the front page of the Mon Valley Independent on Tuesday, claiming only one council person opted to attend, when they were simply following the advice of the borough’s legal counsel. “We were advised not to go,” Paterra said.

Councilman Larry Celaschi asked Paluso, citing numerous professional opinions, why negotiations are being handled the way they are.

“This is the most unprofessional form of negotiations they have ever seen, and I fully agree with them,” Celaschi said, also citing Wednesday’s article regarding ABC’s meeting.

“I disagree,” Paluso said. “When the media calls you, you are not going to say, ‘no comment.’ In that situation, because the pressure was on us and it would look like, ‘What are we (ABC) doing?” Celaschi contends all matters concerning “real estate” should be discussed in executive session.

“Terracotta pipes are real estate?” Paluso asked.

“It’s the purchasing of an asset of millions of dollars and you are using the media,” Logue said.

“You did not show up,” Paluso contended. “As I recall it, you were offered $2 million in writing and that we would pick up the debt. Did you get a formal contract? No. Because in my world, my professional world, people talk about details and then reduce them to writing, but you have not done that.” Paluso also pointed out that while the borough has attended two separate meetings, it was prior to ABC having any supporting documents.

A lengthy presentation from ABC’s engineer on the assessment contended that the sewer lines have no justifiable value to the borough.

KLH stated that the sewer lines, which were constructed in 1930, are approaching the end of their useful life and are in poor condition. It adds that they require immediate repairs at a cost of $525,822, plus additional costs for a system-wide cleaning.

KLH also said the authority is currently paying debt for the storm water system, which will amount to $4,594,795 through 2037.

The firm cited the borough’s estimate that MS4 projects, to bring the system into compliance, will cost about $800,000.

In addition to these expenses, the firm contends the sewer system and storm water system do not generate any revenue.

Paluso did say Wednesday that a large portion of the information ABC’s firm used to generate the report came from borough documents and other related information.

Still, Logue and borough engineers said there are multiple problems with the assessment and that they do not feel it is a fair representation of a true market value.

Ellis asked engineers if they would provide a written report outlining their opinion on the ABC report during council’s meeting next week, to which they agreed.

Jericho also said he hopes to have a special meeting for the authority’s engineers to come and present relevant information to council concerning the sewer line assessment.