Jun 25, 2002 By Paul Sunyak 3 min read

The Fayette County Housing Authority executive director confirmed Monday that five new refrigerators and two new hot water tanks were discovered missing from inventory nearly three weeks ago. Thomas L. Harkless also said that project managers have been tasked to cross-reference internal paperwork used to track appliance movement. If they can’t account for the missing items by Thursday, Harkless said state police would be called in to investigate the apparent thievery.

“If you call me Thursday, I’ll let you know if anything’s missing or not,” said Harkless. “But right now, yes, we have some appliances that are missing. The boxes (they were in) are gone; there’s no doubt about it.

“We’re having the project managers get caught up on paperwork to see if they’re really missing. Thursday, if we don’t have the (supporting) paperwork, we call the police because we’ve got a crime. As it stands right now, we can’t determine if there’s been a crime. We can’t say for certain that they were stolen.”

A housing authority source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, informed the Herald-Standard of the missing appliances. The source also said that a sump pump and an air compressor are also missing; however, Harkless said he “didn’t hear” about those items reportedly being absent from inventory.

The missing items were apparently taken from the authority’s warehouse operation located in a fenced-in area of Bierer Wood Acres in South Union Township.

Harkless said that a maintenance employee noticed and reported the apparent loss of the refrigerators and hot water tanks the first week of June, probably around June 6 or 7. However, the anonymous source said the items were apparently removed between May 30 and June 3, a period during which most of the authority’s maintenance and administrative personnel were at Seven Springs resort for a training seminar.

Rather than report the discrepancy as a theft right away, Harkless said he and department head Dennis Barclay decided to have the authority’s project managers double-check their paperwork to make sure the items weren’t taken out of inventory as replacements.

“We are very bureaucratic, as you know,” said Harkless. He noted that when the authority replaces an old appliance with a new one, two pieces of paper are typically filled out: one detailing the removal of the old appliance from service, the other showing that a new appliance was put in its place.

Project managers typically fill out both pieces of paper simultaneously, said Harkless, who added that one of the things those employees are doing is checking both lists to find any inconsistencies that may account for the missing items.

“There is lag time,” said Harkless of one possible explanation for why the appliances aren’t yet accounted for.

Harkless said that the value of those items exceeds the authority’s $1,000 insurance deductible, as the refrigerators alone probably cost the authority “$300 to $350 a pop.”

The housing authority’s board of directors meets this morning at 8:30 at the community building in Lemon Wood Acres.