The Edgartown wastewater commission voted Tuesday to place plant manager Joseph Alosso immediately on paid administrative leave, after a special town counsel delivered a lengthy report criticizing lax billing practices and inaccurate record keeping at the town wastewater plant over the last 10 years.
At a joint meeting of the selectmen and the wastewater commission Tuesday morning, retired judge John Paul Sullivan gave a summary of a 64-page report that among other things noted “a reckless disregard for the interest of Edgartown taxpayers.” Mr. Sullivan recommended that Mr. Alosso be terminated, and he criticized the wastewater commission for being “passive” and failing to ascertain what was going on at the plant.
“We have no way of determining how many tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars went unbilled between 2002 and 2010,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Mr. Sullivan was appointed by the selectmen last month to conduct an independent review of matters at the town wastewater plant, following a fraud investigation by state and local police that resulted in criminal charges against an Edgartown septic hauler.
Mr. Alosso was not criminally charged but police investigators found that shoddy management practices at the plant created an environment that led to the alleged criminal activity.
Wastewater commissioners and selectmen sat silently in the selectmen’s meeting room in the town hall on Tuesday as Mr. Sullivan delivered his report. Also attending the meeting were Mr. Alosso and town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport. Labor counsel Jack Collins participated by speaker phone.
Mr. Alosso had no comment after the meeting.
The wastewater commission is set to meet on Feb. 7 to discuss the report.
This article appears in January 27, 2012.
I am the president of EleMech, Inc. We supplied the upgrade of controls and PortALogic software to the plant in 2011. I was compeled to comment because once our system was installed and revenue jumped significantly, it may have led some to believe that someone should be responsible for the inaccurate data and billing of the past.
True…inaccuate reporting and billing was likely, but it is common in this industry for a couple reasons. First, the existing system was not available with the automated record keeping and billing features of the PortALogic system. Second, most municipalities would not have spent money to purchase the necessary technology until recently. Municipalities now evaluate and consider all options for new revenue. The service of accepting septage trucks and accurately monitoring the volume of waste unloaded is now generating this revenue. Surprizingly, facilities still settle with manual manifests and “honor systems”, often leaving the unloading site unstaffed with the trucks to unload without being noticed.
After learning of our product and the benefits, Joe acted quickly to integrate our solution into the facility. The result was that the abuse stoped and the revenue increased.
My hope is that his actions to improve upon an existing out-of-date system and react proactively and responsibly with the PortALogic solution has not caused this unfortunate situation.
When are criminal charges being filed by the DA or AG. A quote from law enforcement seems appropriate in what appears to be an very clear felony case. Way past time for this person to be a defendant posting bail.