Study Warns Cities About Finances of Waste Firm : Recycling: Oxnard officials are undeterred. The report on BLT is the latest hurdle in a race to build a west county plant.

A consultant is recommending that Ventura County cities avoid doing business with a company proposing to build and operate a recycling and waste-transfer station in Oxnard, citing the firm’s financial weaknesses and its failure to disclose outstanding legal judgments.

According to a report requested by county waste officials, BLT Enterprises Inc., a Los Angeles company selected to run Oxnard’s plant, has more debts than assets and could face money troubles that would put the project in jeopardy.

In addition, the report said BLT failed to disclose legal judgments against the company despite being asked to do so early in the selection process.

“BLT does not appear to have the necessary financial qualifications to perform successfully on this project,” according to the report prepared by Fremont-based Hilton Farnkopf & Hobson.

The report is the latest hurdle in an ongoing race to build a recycling plant to serve western Ventura County.

Faced with shrinking landfill space and a state mandate that cities recycle 25% of their garbage by 1995, Oxnard has been competing with Gold Coast Recycling Inc. to build a facility capable of sorting and hauling trash generated by the seven west county cities.

Torn between the two proposals, waste commissioners hired consultants to decide which is best.

The consultants failed to endorse the Gold Coast proposal, citing that company’s problems finding a location. Gold Coast this month abandoned plans to locate in Camarillo and instead is considering a site in Ventura.

But the consultants were harder on BLT, giving the company low marks for its “lack of financial capability, marketing experience and legal disclosures.”

“We cannot recommend that the (waste commission) proceed with either proposal in its current form, because both companies have different but significant weaknesses,” the report said.

Despite full knowledge of the issues outlined in the report, Oxnard officials have moved forward with plans for a large recycling and waste-transfer plant in their city.

Oxnard City Councilman Andres Herrera said Thursday that BLT’s finances matter little because the plant will be paid for with public money.

“We are not at all concerned from that respect,” said Herrera, the city’s representative on the waste commission. “We are financing the project, we’re buying the land and we’re paying for everything. It’s ours.”

The Oxnard City Council last month entered into a contract with BLT Enterprises to build and operate the facility on 26 acres near 5th Street and Del Norte Boulevard on the city’s east side.

A month earlier, council members approved the sale of $25 million in bonds to finance construction of the facility.

Herrera said he is not bothered by BLT’s failure to disclose outstanding legal judgments, which total about $80,000 and are the result of being on the losing end of two lawsuits brought against the company in recent years.

“I don’t have any overriding concerns at this point,” Herrera said. “What this process has validated is that we are the most cost-effective project in the county.”

But Oxnard’s neighbors aren’t as willing to overlook the issues raised by the consultants.

Members of the Ventura County Waste Commission--made up of representatives of the 10 cities in the county and two members of the Board of Supervisors--are scheduled to consider the report next week.

Although Oxnard officials are prepared to build the facility even if no other city supports the effort, they are trying to persuade other cities to join with them, thus lowering rates that will be charged to customers who use the plant.

But some city officials said Thursday they are concerned about BLT’s poor financial health and that many more questions need to be answered before they can endorse the project.

“I’m very troubled by it,” Camarillo City Manager J. William Little said of the report. “Even though the facility might be built with public money, it seems to me that the contractor will have to be able to post a bond securing his performance. I’m not sure, given their financial position, they can do that.”

BLT officials said Thursday they would have no problem posting millions of dollars in performance bonds.

Port Hueneme City Manager Richard Velthoen said he worries that Oxnard is getting in over its head, and that if the project fails, city residents will be stuck picking up the tab for the sale of bonds to build the facility.

“Oxnard will say they take financing responsibility on themselves, and I’ll have to leave it to their collective judgments to decide what’s best for their city,” Velthoen said. “But I would certainly be reluctant to recommend that to any city council I worked for.”

Added Santa Paula City Administrator Arnold Dowdy: “All of those things are a very strong concern. Our recommendation will be that the consultant continue to work with BLT and Oxnard to get additional information to clear up the picture.”