NILES TOWNSHIP — The Niles Township board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to request that the Southeast Berrien County Landfill hire an independent consultant to conduct a study and evaluate any owner concerns.

There are various aspects that trustees hope the study, if approved by the landfill board, could address, including whether the municipality-owned organization is being operated to the best of its abilities, and insight for longevity.

Township clerk Terry Eull said the other owners of the landfill, which include Niles, Buchanan, Buchanan Township and Bertrand Township, have been discussing the possibility of a study. The landfill would be responsible for the cost and an estimate was not discussed.

The desire for a study follows on the heels of an embezzlement case regarding the landfill that came to a head earlier this year.

Last year, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department initiated an investigation at the landfill after Herschel Hoese, a township trustee and landfill board member, started questioning some payments the landfill was making to a company called GT&S Enterprises. What was discovered was that two former landfill employees, Clyde “Sonny” Fuller III, a general manager and Terry Snow, a maintenance operator, embezzled money through the shell company. The two were charged with embezzling more than $100,000 and sentenced earlier this year.

Eull said this incident was a factor in municipalities’ decision to initiate an evaluation. He also emphasized that the landfill has operated for more than 25 years and that it is time for such a study to be done.

Township trustees seemed to agree.

Trustee Jim Ringler said the study could be an opportunity to look at various options for the owners.

“Having somebody manage it, what would that mean? What would happen if we sold it and how much would it sell for – and I’m not advocating that we sell it,” Ringler said. “I just think we need to know the answers on this.”

Trustee Dan Pulaski, who serves on the landfill board, said those who serve the landfill want what is best for it.

“Every person out there, including the manager and all the other managers, they care about the longevity of that,” Pulaski said. “That is their whole goal.”

Eull reminded trustees that the point of that the study was not a “knock against” the landfill. He said they just wanted outside expert consultants to provide them with helpful data, similar to how municipalities will hire outside consultants to do studies on other infrastructure.

The same night, trustees heard a presentation Michael Schwartz, a representative for Prein & Newhoff, that showed an in-depth look at wastewater management in the township. Eull likened the landfill study to the same concept, providing a road map that could show where things might need to be improved.

Pulaski said he and Hoese intend to bring the topic up at an upcoming board meeting. Eull added that if the study is approved that they have a chance to meet with consultants to ask further questions.