PORT ANGELES — The $204,443 that now-defunct Peninsula Plywood owes the Port of Port Angeles has been written off by port commissioners.
But whether the port, which took the bills off its books last week, will collect the money it is owed and whether the city will collect $314,489 in utility bills that the city is owed may be anyone’s guess.
The port last week turned PenPly’s unpaid bills over to the port’s contracted collection agency and may eventually pursue legal action to get paid, port officials said Tuesday.
The debt-plagued company owes port lease charges, log yard fees and equipment rental costs that piled up until the company shuttered its Marine Drive plant Dec. 20 after a 22-month run.
“The problem with PenPly is, of course, that apparently they don’t have any assets,” port commission President John Calhoun said.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t consider taking whatever appropriate steps to try and recover back any assets that PenPly might have or from any of the other investors from PenPly. It’s our responsibility to make sure we are made whole to the fullest extent possible.”
Port Director of Finance Bill James said the write-off that was agreed to by port commissioners at their Jan. 23 meeting was a required accounting procedure that kept the port’s options open.
“The next step will probably be a legal step,” James said.
Commissioners also wrote off $13,399 from 12 other accounts, all of which also were turned over to the collection agency.
As with the other accounts, if the collection agency is successful recovering PenPly’s debt, the port would receive the full amount owed, and the collection agency would receive a fee paid by PenPly’s owners, James said.
The port recognizes the impact of PenPly’s overdue bills and will vigorously pursue collection, pledged Port Executive Director Jeff Robb.
“How would you feel if I took $200,000 out of your pocket?” he said.
City Manager Kent Myers said the city has not taken PenPly’s utility bills off the books.
“We’re still considering what legal options to take with regards to the previous owners of PenPly,” he said.
PenPly had not filed for protection from creditors under federal bankruptcy laws in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Seattle as of Tuesday morning, a court clerk said.
PenPly corporate officers Josh Renshaw and Grant Munro did not return calls for comment Tuesday morning.
Renshaw said in an earlier interview that the company did not have the money to pay bills it owes the city or the port.
But Port Angeles yacht builders Westport Shipyard and Platypus Marine Inc. have not written off the possibility of eventually expanding onto the 19-acre site, though with demolition of the mill and environmental cleanup of the site not expected to be complete for from one to two years, no firm plans have been set, a Westport official said Tuesday.
“There are a lot of plans on the board, and we are looking at all of those and how we both fit,” Westport General Manager Phil Beirnes said, adding that he has done a walk-through of the plant for short-term storage uses.
“Long-term, yes, we’d love to have some growth and hire more people and see how the marketplace works out.”
Platypus Marine General Manager Bruce Bryant did not return a call for comment Tuesday morning.
Robb said the site, designated by the port for marine trades, drew interest from the two companies.
“We will work with customers interested in occupying the site,” he said.
Port commissioners voted Jan. 9 to buy PenPly’s log shovel-loader from the lien holder, the Washington Contract Loggers Association Credit Union, for $195,000.
“The comparables out there were as much as $235,000,” Robb said.
The mill, built in 1942, shut down as KPly in November 2007 and reopened as Peninsula Plywood on March 1, 2010.
Renshaw, who successfully marshaled the support of city, county and state officials in starting up the plant, said in an earlier interview that the company provided about $10 million in payroll and employed up to 159 workers.
PenPly’s operations were funded by a $1 million state Department of Commerce loan, $700,000 from company investors and a $500,000 grant from the state Community Development Block Grant Program.
Just two months after opening, a fire cut into sales and forced the owners to borrow more money.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.