Local loggers gave the Town of Cobleskill an earful last Monday over a contract for eight acres of timber at the old Greenbush Road landfill that they argued should have bid out.
Supervisor Tom Murray voted against the December motion to award the contract to Clapper Logging of Cobleskill because, he said last Monday, he felt it was being rushed through behind closed doors.
That was hardly the case, countered Councilman Ken Hotopp, a professional logging consultant who donated his time to evaluate the timber and suggested the sale several months ago as a way to boost the town’s coffers.
Logger Bill Kruglak argued the town would have stood to make more if it had bid out the job—something attorney Mike West said they weren’t required legally to do.
“We were relying on Mr. Hotopp’s opinion as a professional,” said Councilman Sherwood Veith. “He has no vested interest in this. He felt the time was now.”
The town’s income from the timber will be based on what it brings at the mill.
But Mr. Kruglak argued if it had been bid, the town would have likely heard from more loggers with different thoughts on what the trees were worth.
“I thought this was supposed to generate as much income as possible,” Mr. Kruglak said.
“This was all shotgun.”
Mr. Kruglak estimated the trees could be worth as much as $11,000 to $12,000 in even a low market, but Mr. Hotopp said that’s his guess.
“Anyone can always say ‘if’,” he said. “This is not the Ponderosa we’re talking about…My professional opinion was that this was the best way for the town and village to do this procedure.”
Mr. Kruglak said he’d called the State Attorney General’s office and “they had no doubt” that even though Mr. Hotopp wasn’t charging the town, it was still a conflict of interest for him to vote in favor of the contract to Clapper Logging.
“What’s the conflict?” asked Mr. Hotopp. “I donated my professional time. Usually it’s 15 percent.”
Mr. West agreed that there’s no conflict and said the AG’s office would have never said it was illegal to sell the timber without bidding it out.
He also pointed out that the issue had been discussed repeatedly on the open floor.
These are tough times for the timber industry.
Logger Ray Tallman said he’s lived through four recessions and this one is the worst.
“It’s crashing again as we’re speaking,” he said, “I’m doing anything and everything to pay my bills.”
Mr. Tallman said he advised two or three clients to hold off till 2012 to see whether the market comes back, but until home foreclosures stop, that won’t happen.
“If you’re desperate, sell now,” Mr. Tallman added. Otherwise, it’s better to wait.
Mr. Hotopp said his experience has been similar: He didn’t mark a single woodlot [for sale] in the past year and he, too, expected things to pick up in the last quarter of ’10.
“But I think the time is right for this,” he said, “We’re having trouble with our budget…”
After about 35 minutes of discussion, Mr. Veith suggested it was time to move on to other business.
“As far as we’re concerned, we chose a method [to sell the timber],” he said. “We were within our legal rights. It’s time to move on.”