PORT ANGELES — City Hall is not ready to write off the $315,272 bill Peninsula Plywood owes for utilities, City Manager Kent Myers said.
Myers said Friday the city is reviewing how it can force payment, including going after the owners of the failed mill.
PenPly President Josh Renshaw had said that the mill, which officially closed Tuesday, does not have the funds to pay the bill or the roughly $99,000 it owes the Port of Port Angeles for rent.
The port is also liable for the unpaid utility bills as the landlord, Myers said, but he declined to say whether the city will seek payment from the public entity.
“I don’t want to discuss any more information that could limit our ability to seek the legal amount,” he said.
Port Executive Director Jeff Robb said the port is also not writing off the debt yet, though he expressed doubt over whether the funds can be paid.
“The only thing you can do is sue the corporation, and they have no assets,” he said.
The approximately $99,000 in rent payments PenPly missed through this month does not include the $170,100 the port agreed to defer as part of its lease agreement. PenPly was scheduled to start paying the deferred rent this month.
Robb said he has not considered going after the owners for the money yet and has not talked with the city about whether the port could end up paying the utility bill.
Glenn Cutler, city public works and utilities director, said the utility bill is the largest he’s ever seen unpaid during his nearly 13 years at City Hall.
If not paid, it will have an impact on other rate payers.
The city estimates that, without the use of reserves, it has to raise electrical rates by 1 percent for every $200,000 in costs the utility incurs.
Of its bill, PenPly owes about $250,000 for electricity.
But unpaid utility bills aren’t rare.
The city loses about $50,000 a year through unpaid electrical bills and about $20,000 a year through unpaid water bills.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
