Suit against nonprofit dropped
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WAYNESBURG – A lawsuit filed by the state Department of Community and Economic Development against the nonprofit organization Sustaining Greene County was withdrawn Wednesday.
Attorney John Quain Jr. of the office of chief counsel for the DCED did not return phone calls but Kimberlee Moninger, executive director for Sustaining Greene County, said she has been told the Commonwealth now considers the matter to be settled.
“It was a matter of getting some stuff in late and now they have accepted it,” she said.
The suit filed in March accused Sustaining Greene County of failing to file an audit and close out reports for two grants it received totaling $200,000.
Sustaining Greene County was formed in 2001 to promote economic development through agriculture. According to the lawsuit, the organization received a grant for $150,000 through the Regional Economic Development District Initiative Program in 2004 to help it enhance its existing programs and develop new ones.
The organization operated Tally Hallow Farm near Spraggs on property it leased from Consol Energy to demonstrate environmentally bfriendly farming practices. In 1982, Consol Energy undermined the 66 acre farm, formerly known as the Hoskin’s farm, many years before entering into the lease agreement with Sustaining Greene County.
Operating as a demonstration project, Tally Hallow pastured poultry, sold eggs and developed and supported educational programming in the county.
The DCED contract that ended June 30, 2011, required the organization to complete a final audit no later than 120 days after that date. An additional $50,000 grant was secured by Sustaining Greene County through the DCED in January 2009. The closeout date for that grant was June 30, 2011. In both cases, the DCED claimed it did not receive final documentation from Sustaining Greene County and filed the suit to seek judgment for the full amount of $200,000 plus interest and court costs.
Sustaining Greene County has not been operational since 2010, prior to the closeout dates for both of these grants.