Plant may be foreclosed if settlement is not paid

OGDENSBURG — The city may be foreclosing on a kosher cheese plant here for the second time in a little more than a year.

City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said the city will seize the Main Street plant, owned by Toobro LLC, of Hewlett Neck, if the company does not settle the roughly $175,000 it owes the city as part of the purchase agreement signed in May. Mr. Sciorra has set an Aug. 10 deadline for the new owners to pay up.

According to Mr. Sciorra, Toobro, owned by Menachem and Schneur Bistritzky, has paid $25,000 of the $125,000 down payment that was part of the approximately $1 million agreement. The company also is $12,000 behind on rent and owes more than $63,000 in unpaid utilities that have been collecting since the plant began operations in May, Mr. Sciorra said.

An additional $65,000 bill will become due Aug. 10. Mr. Sciorra said he has decided to confront the situation and not let the debt continue to grow.

"It'll very quickly get so big it will be too much to pay," Mr. Sciorra said. "I can't let it get in arrears like last time."

In July 2008, the city foreclosed on the same factory, which makes "cholov yisroel" grade kosher cheese and milk, because former owner Ahava Food Corp., Venice, Calif., owed $90,000 in rent and $618,138 in utility bills.

Andrew W. Moesel, a spokesman for Toobro, said company officials are working closely with the city and expect to have the issues resolved by Friday.

"We fully intend to honor every agreement that we've made," he said.

Although employees reportedly have not been paid for the past two weeks, about 20 workers were at the plant Monday. Company officials expect all 60 employees to be back at the factory by the end of the week, Mr. Moesel said.

The U.S. Department of Labor is looking into whether Toobro or Ahava is responsible for reimbursing workers for the unpaid labor, said John M. Chavez, a spokesman with the Department of Labor.

Toobro and Ahava also are battling in court for management control of the kosher dairy plant in New Bremen. Mr. Moesel did not comment on what impact the legal battle has had on the operations in Ogdensburg.

If the city does seize the plant, Mr. Sciorra said, he will look for a new owner.

"We're not going to try to operate the plant ourselves," he said. "It's in good condition. It passed inspection and there are others that may be interested."