Senators debate bill on $5.9M waste removal payment
Senators on Tuesday took up a bill which seeks to pay the government's $5.9 million debt to Ko'Ku Recycling over massive removal of waste from Guam.
Senators debate bill on $5.9M waste removal payment Senators on Tuesday took up a bill which seeks to pay the government's $5.9 million debt to Ko'Ku Recycling over massive removal of waste from Guam. Check out this story on guampdn.com: https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/12/18/senators-debate-5-9-m-waste-removal-payment-bill/2298315002/
Haidee Eugenio Gilbert, Pacific Daily News Published 5:14 p.m. ChT Dec. 18, 2018 | Updated 5:15 p.m. ChT Dec. 18, 2018
Sen. Tom Ada and Sen. Jim Espaldon have some pieces of advice for new and returning senators. Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com
Acting Speaker Therese Terlaje, left, confers with Sen. Tom Ada and Sen. Joe San Agustin during a Dec. 13, 2018 session break.(Photo: Haidee Eugenio/PDN)
Senators on Tuesday debated at length a proposal to pay $5.9 million to Ko'Ku Recycling for removing large amounts of metallic waste, typhoon debris and junk cars for the government about 17 years ago.
Sen. Dennis Rodriguez Jr.'s Bill 350 seeks to provide $590,000 in annual continuing appropriations from the recycling revolving fund, for 10 years, to Ko'Ku Recycling, which removed about 25,000 tons of waste.
GovGuam owes Ko'Ku Recyling $7.5 million for its work, according to a 2001 license agreement between the private company and the Chamorro Land Trust Commission.
Of the total amount, CLTC would absorb nearly $1.6 million by offsetting the compnay's lease payments.
Deputy AG: Questionable process
Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Orcutt said the Office of the Attorney General has serious concerns about the Legislature taking up this matter when Ko'Ku Recycling "failed to go into the court system or the executive branch to seek relief there."
The company should have filed a claim under the Government Claims Act or filed for declaratory relief in local court, Orcutt said.
"In this case, they waited 17 years. They may be too late for some of these processes," Orcutt told senators.
Orcutt said the Office of the Attorney General has not reviewed the 2001 license agreement to determine if it is valid.
(Story continues below photo)
In this 199 file photo, debris at Cabras is removed from the area to be transported off island by ship. Ko'Ku Recycling has been waiting 17 years for the government to pay for the removal of about 50,000 metric tons of metallic waste, including junk cars nand debris, caused by Typhoon Paka. (Photo: PDN file photo, )
Attorney Fred Horecky, counsel for Ko'Ku Recycling, said the 2001 license agreement states the value of work performed is $7.5 million, and it's undisputed that the entire island benefited from the waste removal.
"The only thing changing here is finding a vehicle to satisfy that liability, which is the recycling revolving fund," Horecky said.
Sen. Mary Torres, acting Speaker Therese Terlaje and other senators echoed the attorney general's concerns about the Legislature's role in the issue.
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"We're trying to effect something retroactively through policy, which I question, and I continue to question whether it's the role of the Legislature..." Torres said.
She said it's not the Legislature's job to fix the payment, until other options have been exhausted.
"We need to put the onus on the right agencies to clean up their act," Torres said.
Terlaje said CLTC came to the Legislature to help pay its obligation to a private company "because they knew they exceeded their authority to enter into an agreement."
She said unless a court or the attorney general determines the debt is owed, it's like giving a private company a "gift."
Sen. Telena Nelson said the bill could be deemed inorganic and unconstitutional.
Recycling revolving fund
The Legislature went into the committee of the whole to discuss Rodriguez's bill with representatives from the Office of the Attorney General, the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, Guam Environmental Protection Agency, Ko'Ku Recycling and the Mayors' Council of Guam.
Guam EPA Administrator Walter Leon Guerrero said giving money to Ko'Ku each year, as stated in Bill 350, will affect Guam EPA's plans to use that money for other programs.
The recycling revolving fund gets money from vehicle registration fees. It was established to fund recycling efforts and is separate from the general fund.
The recycling revolving fund generates about $2.9 million a year.
As of 4:30 p.m., senators were still in the committee of the whole discussing the bill.
Cannabis home cultivation
The debt payment bill is one of seven bills that remain on the session agenda as of Tuesday. Senators passed 17 bills on Monday, during the last session of the 34th Legislature.
Senators could also vote on Rodriguez's Bill 380, which seeks to exempt from arrest, prosecution or penalty designated caregivers under the medical marijuana home cultivation law.
The new law allows qualified patients and caregivers to grow and possess as many as six flowering plants and 12 juvenile plants at a time, until cannabis becomes available at dispensaries.
The language of the home cultivation law, however, did not include protection for caregivers. Bill 380, co-sponsored by Sen. Louise Muna, seeks to fix the oversight.
Land bills
Before their term ends, senators could also vote on land-related bills:
Bill 357, by Sen. Tom Ada, which seeks to authorize a land exchange involving 324 sq. meters of land in Agana Heights, to correct an encroachment by the Agana Heights sports and recreational facility.
Bill 361, by Ada and Sen. Joe San Agustin, which seeks to allow owners of a strip of land in Yigo by the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church to voluntarily rezone their lots to commercial zone.
Bill 369, by Ada, which seeks to authorize the sale of 442 square meters of land, which was a portion of the Old Dela Corte Street and alley in Old Agana.
Bill 370, by Ada, which seeks to allow a commercial lease between the Piti mayor, Piiti Municipal Planning Council and Guam Telephone Authority involving a piece of property in Piti, for a 20-year term with an option to renew for another 20 years. Acting Speaker Therese Terlaje's adopted amendment was to shorten the lease from 50 years as stated in the original bill to 20 years.
Bill 376, by Ada, which seeks to authorize the sale of a remaining portion of a government lot in Agana Heights.
Reporter Haidee Eugenio covers Guam's Catholic church issues, government, business and more. Follow her on Twitter @haidee_eugenio. Follow Pacific Daily News on Facebook/GuamPDN and Instagram @guampdn.
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