Harveys Lake official raises concerns about alleged questionable purchases
September 03, 2009 | Filed in: RTK request
stories | Harveys
Lake
BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS
Citizens Voice Staff Writer
HARVEYS LAKE - General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake board members, stunned by allegations of questionable purchases by authority employees, vowed to investigate.
Councilman Charles Musial, who is also a police officer, revealed to the board at Wednesday's meeting that, acting on queries by residents about their sewer fees, he filed a Right-to-Know-Act request on authority records for 2007-08 and also did some research on his own. Musial said he was acting as a civilian and had to pay the municipal authority $150 for the records.
"Looking over the receipts and the items purchased, I knew darn well they weren't used for the municipal authority," Musial said.
He named some of them: "Parts for a Buick Riviera, parts for a '93 Dodge Dakota Sport, motorcycle parts, boat parts, dog leashes, letters for employees' mailboxes, hunting items, parts for a '96 Honda Civic, parts for a Chevy Blazer, trailer jacks, furnace parts, bicycle parts, and the list goes on and on."
Musial wouldn't name names.
"I, for one, was not aware of any of this," board Chairman David Schuler said. The other two members present, Thomas Kehler and William Mann, also were not.
Musial alleged the largest purchases were for gas for an employee's personal vehicle. Some of the purchases were made on weekends and holidays such as Election Day, when authority employees do not work, he said.
"Maybe the employees are allowed to purchase gas for their vehicles. If that, in fact, is so, I think the residents of Harveys Lake would like to know that, being that the sewer bill is one of the highest in the county," Musial said. GMAHL charges $725 a year for each house or apartment on the sewer system.
Mann said nobody is allowed to use the authority's account for gasoline for personal vehicles.
Musial said it was possible to tell fuel was being bought for a personal vehicle because records showed four, but the municipal authority only has three trucks. Authority executive director Richard Boice informed him the authority did have four vehicles, but sold one, a 1995 Dodge pickup, at the end of 2008. The other three vehicles the authority owns are a 2009 Dodge van, a GMC pickup truck, and a 1989 Ford Ranger, Boice and authority members said.
When Mann noted the municipal authority might have been reimbursed for the questioned purchases, Musial said he had asked for any reimbursements and was told "it did not happen."
Schuler called the situation "pretty serious," and said the board would look into it. Solicitor Thomas O'Connor said the authority is audited every year, and auditors found no irregularities. He asked Musial to put his inquiries in writing so the authority could look at the same records and make its own determination.
"I don't want any misunderstandings," O'Connor said.
Of the allegations, Boice, who is also mayor of Harveys Lake, noted that it is a political year. His mayoral opponent, councilman Clarence Hogan, was in the audience at the meeting but did not speak.
Citizens Voice Staff Writer
HARVEYS LAKE - General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake board members, stunned by allegations of questionable purchases by authority employees, vowed to investigate.
Councilman Charles Musial, who is also a police officer, revealed to the board at Wednesday's meeting that, acting on queries by residents about their sewer fees, he filed a Right-to-Know-Act request on authority records for 2007-08 and also did some research on his own. Musial said he was acting as a civilian and had to pay the municipal authority $150 for the records.
"Looking over the receipts and the items purchased, I knew darn well they weren't used for the municipal authority," Musial said.
He named some of them: "Parts for a Buick Riviera, parts for a '93 Dodge Dakota Sport, motorcycle parts, boat parts, dog leashes, letters for employees' mailboxes, hunting items, parts for a '96 Honda Civic, parts for a Chevy Blazer, trailer jacks, furnace parts, bicycle parts, and the list goes on and on."
Musial wouldn't name names.
"I, for one, was not aware of any of this," board Chairman David Schuler said. The other two members present, Thomas Kehler and William Mann, also were not.
Musial alleged the largest purchases were for gas for an employee's personal vehicle. Some of the purchases were made on weekends and holidays such as Election Day, when authority employees do not work, he said.
"Maybe the employees are allowed to purchase gas for their vehicles. If that, in fact, is so, I think the residents of Harveys Lake would like to know that, being that the sewer bill is one of the highest in the county," Musial said. GMAHL charges $725 a year for each house or apartment on the sewer system.
Mann said nobody is allowed to use the authority's account for gasoline for personal vehicles.
Musial said it was possible to tell fuel was being bought for a personal vehicle because records showed four, but the municipal authority only has three trucks. Authority executive director Richard Boice informed him the authority did have four vehicles, but sold one, a 1995 Dodge pickup, at the end of 2008. The other three vehicles the authority owns are a 2009 Dodge van, a GMC pickup truck, and a 1989 Ford Ranger, Boice and authority members said.
When Mann noted the municipal authority might have been reimbursed for the questioned purchases, Musial said he had asked for any reimbursements and was told "it did not happen."
Schuler called the situation "pretty serious," and said the board would look into it. Solicitor Thomas O'Connor said the authority is audited every year, and auditors found no irregularities. He asked Musial to put his inquiries in writing so the authority could look at the same records and make its own determination.
"I don't want any misunderstandings," O'Connor said.
Of the allegations, Boice, who is also mayor of Harveys Lake, noted that it is a political year. His mayoral opponent, councilman Clarence Hogan, was in the audience at the meeting but did not speak.