City hopeful Fenwick backs recycling center over RSWA

ZION CROSSROADS — Bob Fenwick, an independent candidate for Charlottesville’s City Council, threw his support Tuesday to a recycling center owner embroiled in a clash with the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority.
Fenwick called on the City Council to rescind a roughly $6 million lawsuit against Peter van der Linde brought by the RSWA. The lawsuit, which accuses van der Linde of racketeering and other charges, recently was moved into Charlottesville’s federal court.

As a businessman and “believer in free enterprise,” Fenwick said he decided to support van der Linde after hearing about the difficulties he was having with the authority.
“This was another example of a government body going after a private business,” Fenwick said.
The RSWA manages solid waste, recycling and other services for both the city and Albemarle County.
The authority has considered sending all its trash to one disposal facility, rather than several, a move that could deny business to van der Linde, Fenwick said. But he said he thinks the authority has backed off the idea until after the November election.

Fenwick said such a change would harm van der Linde’s business and put his 85 employees out of work.
Fenwick said he has had difficulty finding RSWA’s side of the case and thinks officials in Charlottesville or Albemarle County should tell residents why the suit is a good idea.
Mayor Dave Norris said the City Council isn’t involved in authority-level lawsuits and hasn’t taken a stand on the suit.
“It’s reckless for anyone to take a position on the lawsuit until they have all of the facts,” said Norris, who is seeking re-election to the council.

Details of the case haven’t been fully revealed. Kenneth C. Boyd, a county supervisor on the RSWA board, said he was told he couldn’t brief the Board of Supervisors on the suit because it would be a violation of attorney-client privilege.
Rivanna initially filed suit against van der Linde in January 2008. The complaint, which was amended in September to include charges under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, also accuses van der Linde of fraud, interfering with a fee expectation under a contract and conspiring to harm the authority’s business.

As part of an agreement between BFI Waste Systems and the authority, haulers were supposed to identify where their trash came from when they arrived at the Ivy waste transfer station.
If the trash comes from the city or county, the hauler was supposed to pay a service contribution fee that is used for waste services in the Charlottesville area. The lawsuit claims van der Linde’s employees lied to the BFI employees under their boss’ direction and didn’t pay the fee.
Corban Klug, the attorney who represents van der Linde, said he filed a notice of removal to have the case moved to federal court, which is an option a defendant can take if so desired. Thomas L. Frederick Jr., Rivanna’s executive director, said the authority is just trying to collect an outstanding balance.

“The public in general expects government agencies to enforce collection of moneys that they are owed so the taxpayers who are honest are not paying a debt for the individuals who do not pay their respective share,” Frederick said.
Van der Linde declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday. However, he said he expects to open his household waste recycling center in a week. The center will sort non-hazardous items, such as banana peels, that normally would be put in a landfill.