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Special counsel: Hawthorne expects to recover roughly 80% of PFAS repair costs; affordable housing talks continue
Summary
Special counsel reported sizeable recoveries from PFAS litigation that should recoup about 80% of borough expenditures on prior water repairs. Counsel also said the borough remains in negotiations over affordable housing at the former Pan Chemical site and will not settle until terms are acceptable.
At the meeting, borough special counsel Michael Pasquale told the council that litigation tied to PFAS contamination and repairs has produced a favorable recovery.
"By the time we finish, it appears that we will recoup 80% of the monies that we have expended on making these repairs to our water system," Pasquale said.
He credited coordination among the mayor, administrator and outside counsel and called the result "a fantastic result" given the scale of earlier expenditures. Pasquale said the borough expended substantial sums to repair the water system and that the litigation recovery will offset a large share of those costs.
On affordable housing, Pasquale said talks with a developer about the former Pan Chemical site are continuing and that the borough is not proposing to move forward with settlement until it is comfortable with the proposal. He flagged that another round of discussion is expected in about two weeks.
Pasquale also noted administrative changes to how legal notices will be posted: beginning Jan. 1, legal notices will be posted to the borough website and, beginning March 1, a direct link to a state site will be provided for municipal legal notices.
Council members praised the outcome on the PFAS matter but did not vote on settlement authority at this meeting.
