Online commenter accuses county of conflict of interest over landfill; commissioners defend two-year management agreement

An online commenter, identified in the record as Clover Smith, accused county officials of hiring a rival landfill operator and called for an investigation into alleged collusion.

"Who are the commissioners working for? Jay Alexander or the citizens of Lycoming County?" the comment read, according to the online submission read aloud at the meeting.

Clover Smith's written comments, read by staff, also alleged that a director position had been advertised at an annual salary of $65,000 with an education and experience requirement that would deter qualified applicants, and said the county had since hired a competing landfill operator at roughly $250,000 a year. The submission included a claim that a landfill employee was instructed to place an excavator on unstable wood, causing the machine to tip and suffer extensive damage.

County leaders responded at length during the public-comment portion of the meeting. One commissioner (Speaker 5) said the county's agreement is with the Clinton County Municipal Solid Waste Authority and that officials considered three candidate organizations before selecting the current management arrangement. "We entered into a 2 year contract," the commissioner said, adding that the agreement may be extended depending on the results.

The commissioner said the management partner has already identified changes that are producing cost savings and that the county's prior approach required taxpayer subsidies to keep the landfill operating. "I hope I can say in the next 2 years, the taxpayers are no longer supplementing by coming to the landfill," the commissioner said.

Another commissioner (Speaker 3) framed the decision within a broader history of counties contracting for management of county-owned services, pointing to examples such as a golf course where outside management led to a profit after previous losses. That commissioner also noted state-imposed daily limits on landfill intake, saying neighboring facilities cannot simply "steal" all of the county's business because of those capacity limits.

Commissioners said they are reassessing the contract as work proceeds and emphasized the regional nature of waste management. They also urged members of the public to note that hiring and organizational changes take time and said recruitment for landfill and public-safety roles has increased in recent weeks.

The meeting record does not show that commissioners took any formal action to fire or replace the management firm during this session; they said the two-year contract will be evaluated as it proceeds.

Next steps: commissioners did not announce an immediate investigation during the meeting; they said the contract timeline and ongoing oversight will determine future actions.