No. 3 Holder Piles on Mattress Maker

There’s a new character spicing up the bedroom-fight for Sealy Corp.

Shareholder FPR Partners has sent a letter to Sealy siding with fellow-owner H Partners Management and expressing FPR’s disappointment with Sealy’s responses to pressure to make changes to its board. H Partners said earlier this month the board is dominated by private-equity giant KKR & Co., which Sealy refutes.

FPR Partners is the third-largest shareholder with 7.7% of Sealy, after it has added nearly 2 million shares since early February.

In the letter to Sealy director Gary Morin dated Thursday, FPR Partners said it was “disappointed and perplexed” with the Sealy board’s response last week to H Partners’ March 11 letter as it felt H Partners has “raised meaningful concerns regarding immense value destruction.”

“Instead of discussing the substantive issues before the company, its board, and all shareholders, you instead chose to pick at secondary details of the letter,” the investor wrote to Morin. “Rather than make no changes in the outdated and unsuccessful governance of Sealy, we urge you to bring other qualified shareholders onto the board who can help select and support the new CEO and remaining members of the management team.”

It’s unclear what impact the letter will have, if any. Combined, H Partners and FPR Partners still control only half the amount that KKR controls.

A spokesman for Sealy said in a statement that the company “delivered positive financial and operations performance for the first quarter of 2012.” The statement also said the company’s board is “very focused” on its 2012 objectives, including finding the new CEO and remains “committed to delivering long-term shareholder value and continue to be open to constructive dialogue with all of our shareholders.”

Sealy shares have lost a quarter of their value in the past twelve months, dropping to $2 from its 2006 IPO of $16. The company has traded above that IPO price in only nine sessions, including its first day. However, the stock is up 17% this year so far, crossing back over $2 for the first time since August.

Earlier this month, H Partners, which now holds 15.3% of Sealy, raised questions about KKR’s presence on the board and its handling of Sealy. The investors said in their letter they wanted to remove KKR’s three representatives from the Sealy board and raised questions about the fees that KKR Capstone, which is a KKR consulting unit, was paid by Sealy.

H Partners also offered to help with the ongoing search for a new CEO for Sealy.

Sealy is close to completing its search for a new CEO and an announcement could occur within a few weeks, according to someone familiar with the situation. A spokesman for Sealy declined to comment on the search.

Sealy‘s Morin responded a week ago that the board met the guidelines for independent directors and scolded H Partners for what it described as its “unwillingness to work cooperatively with members of Sealy’s management team and our Board of Directors when they have taken extensive steps to be responsive to you.”

H Partners responded to Morin Thursday saying his letter “failed to explain why almost 90 percent or $1.3 billion of value has disappeared since Sealy’s IPO.” The response also raised questions about whether Sealy has made proper disclosures of payments to KKR for advisory activities. H Partners says it will withhold support for the board’s directors if it doesn’t get what it demands.

Unapproved materials pile up at Hamilton ecological facility

The stacks of mulch, wood and construction debris piling up at Hamilton’s ecological facility off Kuser Road have drawn complaints from residents and the township as well as attention from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

At last week’s council meeting, council regular Antonio Gambino questioned current operations at the center, which was privatized three years ago.

“That ecological center over there is a mess,” Gambino said. “They’re dumping stuff over there, I don’t know where it’s coming from. There’s four to five stories high of stuff I’ve never seen out there ― concrete, steel, wood.”

The center, now run by Lawrence-based Britton Industries, mainly serves as a mulching and recycling operation, but concrete, metal and other materials are now piled alongside mountains of mulch at the facility.

Township business administrator John Ricci said the asphalt dumped at the site belongs to the township and isn’t Britton’s responsibility. But some of the materials at the site have given the township pause, he said, and the DEP was called in to inspect the center and its operations.

“We had concerns about the size of some of the piles, but the DEP has come out on our request and inspected, and they’re within the limits established by permits from the state DEP,” Ricci said.

Britton Industries did not return a call seeking comment.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the DEP, said no major violations have been found recently. DEP records show several minor violations were noted in 2009, including complaints that there were no water trucks at the center, which allows dust to fly around. Materials like concrete and asphalt that aren’t approved were also found stockpiled in 2009, and in 2010 a tree contractor was observed dropping off cuttings in an area not approved for that kind of material.

The DEP also issued two notices of violation to the township in 2009 for dumping porcelain-laden fill excavated from under a Cornell Heights tennis court.

Britton Industries’ three-year contract with the township is up in July. The company pays the township $95,000 a year to run the ecological facility, make mulch and sell it.

The company won the contract with the township after suing the township when it gave the contract to another vendor after learning Britton had been fined $1 million by the DEP. The other vendor, Reliable Wood, had also been fined. The contract was bid again and ultimately awarded to Britton.

Mild winter left Mercer County towns with piles of salt and cash

The fourth warmest winter on record dumped very little snow on New Jersey, but towns enjoyed a windfall as funds for snow removal and stockpiled salt went largely unused.

Without snow and ice to create havok, residents also benefited greatly, according to the state's largest insurer, New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co., which reported that damage claims by both homeowners and drivers declined significantly. Sales of natural gas for heating also fell, according to the utility PSE&G.

Hamilton spent $36,363 on snow removal for the 2011-2012 season, just 3 percent of what was spent in the previous budget year, according to figures from budget officer Roberta O. Magdziak and business administrator John Ricci.

"Last year, 2010 into 2011, we spent about $1.2 million, and we had spent roughly the same amount the year before," Ricci said. "The year before that it was down around $300,000," but nowhere near as low as this year, he said.

For the 2012 calendar year beginning Jan. 1, Hamilton had earmarked about $460,000 for snow expenses, he said. While that number is less than half what the township spent in each of the last two years, "We were assuming for budget purposes that we couldn't possibly get three bad winter seasons in a row. Some of that money has already been used for stockpiling salt, Ricci said. "Other than that, there's been almost nothing spent."

Ewing spent just $10,000 on snow removal during the last half of 2011, saving $55,000. The township has saved that money and augmented it with $5,000 more to cover 2012 snow expenses.

"Realistically, two years ago that would not have been enough, but you've got to guess and then do an emergency appropriation based on what Mother Nature does," Ewing business administrator Jim McManimon said.

"In Trenton, workers spread roughly 481 tons of rock salt of the city's 780-ton supply this winter, at a cost of about $93,000, which saved the city close to $77,000," city spokesman Lauren Ira said. The year before the city spent $313,151 on related expenses, she said.

Mayor Janice Mironov said East Windsor Township used 465 tons of salt valued at $25,518 over the 2011-2012 winter season. That amounts to about a fifth of the township's current stash of more than 2,400 tons of salt, which suggests the township was prepared for a much greater snow deluge.

Including the costs related to the "Snowtober" snow storm, Lawrence reported using a little more than $68,000 in funds for snow removal this winter, leaving the township with $78,000 in trust and all of the $88,000 budgeted for 2012, Richard Krawczun said.

Expenditures by the county government shrank more than 75 percent, from roughly $800,000 spent in the 2010-11 season to just under $185,000 this winter, according to figures from spokeswoman Julie Willmot.

The county does not budget directly for snow removal services, but appropriates funds according to weather.

"Mercer County is responsible for 425 lane miles, and we'll always be in the never-ending battle of pothole and bridge repairs, but this mild winter has given all of us a break," she said. "Hopefully this cold snap represents winter's last gasp."

Action being taken Birdhurst over rotting hens

The Nelson Mail reported yesterday horticultural company Birdhurst had been illegally composting dead layer hens from Ewing Poultry on a site near the Motueka River. Its resource consent to compost fish offal at the site expired in 2000.

Neighbouring business owner Brian Roebuck, of Motueka Gravels, said truckloads of dead birds and chicken poo were regularly dumped at the site and mixed with raw bark, and the stench could be disgusting.

Tasman District Council compliance officer Warren Galbraith said yesterday the old consent, which was a permitted activity to create 50 cubic metres of compost with no odour, was no longer relevant.

The volume on Birdhurst's site exceeded 300 cubic metres, he said.

Council spokesman Chris Choat said Mr Galbraith had visited the site yesterday and seen both the owners and the piles of chickens.

"We have been working with this company for a while, but now they've gone too far.

"The recent events have led us to take some enforcement action."

Mr Choat said the company was composting for its own orchard, and while the council recognised businesses had to ensure they were sustainable, there were also environmental effects from such activities and strict rules around them.

"These guys have broken those rules and we're taking appropriate action."

Lloyd Ewing of Ewing Poultry said the birds normally went to a processor in Canterbury, but Birdhurst "were desperate for compost".

"We're not involved really, they just came and got the birds from us. We also sell them chook manure, as we sell chook manure to a lot of people. They told me everything was in order with the council and they were allowed to do 50 cubic metres on site.

"They obviously made an error of judgment. I'm just sorry they haven't done it properly."

The site is leased by Birdhurst from Wakatu Incorporation within the Motueka River stopbanks.

Meanwhile, Quail Valley resident Steph Anderson said she had concerns about Ewing Poultry's stockpiling of chicken manure for compost, and whether this was being managed properly.

Ms Anderson lives about a kilometre away from the Belgrove plant where the manure is stored, and said the stench could be terrible.

The smell had not been as bad this summer as it had not been so hot, but "in previous summers it has been unbearable, and we live one kilometre away".

"Rotting poultry manure has a certain fragrance all of its own. It's very good manure but it's also very strong so it's a powerful smell."

It also seemed to bring an increased number of flies, she said.

"When you live in the country with livestock around it's hard to say definitely it's the reason, but the locals all notice it."

Ms Anderson has lived on her property for about six years, and it had been an issue on and off since then, she said.

"I'm cautious because there's a reluctance of being labelled a townie, who moves out and doesn't expect to smell the smells of the country. But it's quite a bit more than that." Ms Anderson said council staff "didn't seem to be terribly interested".

However, they had said to phone when it happened and they would come out.

"They said [the manure] should be covered by a certain amount of bark and material to stop the stench and you shouldn't be able to smell it within a certain radius of the property."

Mr Ewing said he was not prepared to comment, except to say the company complied with Tasman District Council's requirements.

Being dumped - piles of recyclable rubbish

Huge piles of Cambridgeshire’s rubbish which should have been recycled have gone to landfill because of faults with a 42 million waste-shredding plant known as The Terminator.

Failings by builder BAM Nuttall – the same contractor blamed for the guided busway fiasco – are said to be stopping the giant machine at AmeyCespa’s Waterbeach site from operating at full capacity – meaning tonnes of recyclable material is going into the ground.

It should have been operating at full speed 18 months ago, but an official report reveals this is yet to happen, and that “substantially” more tonnes of junk are going to landfill.

This means residents have to pay more towards taxes on dumping – and the fear is that they will be hit with bigger bills as levies soar.

Cllr Kevin Wilkins, Liberal Democrat planning spokesman, said: “The county council just doesn’t do a good job looking after taxpayers’ money.

“Big projects overrun and the Conservatives seem happier to pay more in landfill tax rather than get their house in order.”

The mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant, dubbed The Terminator and the first of its kind in the UK, is meant to sort and shred the contents of Cambridgeshire’s black bins so they can be recycled or composted.

The report to councillors by John Onslow, director of infrastructure, management and operations, reveals why it is not working properly.

He said: “The principal reason for the delay can be attributed to the construction contractor, BAM Nuttall, working on behalf of AmeyCespa.

“In terminating the contract between the two companies, AmeyCespa are endeavouring to remedy the failings in the plant’s design and machinery.”

Excess ammonia in the composting hall has been the “most time-consuming” problem, Mr Onslow said.

The council is not losing money because the extra landfill tax is offset by reduced payments to AmeyCespa.

It hopes this will continue, although taxes rise by 8 a tonne from Sunday, and annually.

BAM Nuttall, locked in a legal battle with the council over delays and overspends on the busway between St Ives and Cambridge, said it could not comment for contractual reasons.

Cllr Mathew Shuter, the council’s cabinet member for enterprise, said 62,227 tonnes of waste had been diverted from landfill despite the reduced operating capacity.

He said: “Our aim now is to work with AmeyCespa to complete the commissioning of the MBT plant and ensure Cambridgeshire maintains its excellent reputation for reducing and recycling our waste.”

Sarah Clover, account director at AmeyCespa, said: “The MBT is operational and processing the county’s residual waste. Additional works are being put in place to ensure it complies with all requirements and completes the testing phase.