STOPGAP: Eddie Hayes, executive director of the New Chicago Community Development Corp., shows the wrought-iron cages he had installed around the air-conditioning units atop his organization’s North Memphis building. Thieves stole coils from the units and copper wires from the building, causing thousands of dollars in damage. -- PHOTO BY ERIC SMITH

Another round in the battle against scrap-metal theft is set for today, when the Memphis City Court hears protests from companies that haven’t complied with an ordinance requiring them to obtain a permit to recycle scrap metals such as copper and also to “tag and hold” purchased metals before processing them.

The two companies are Metal Management Memphis LLC and H. Iskwitz & Co. Inc., according to officials from the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, one of the groups working to uphold a scrap-metal ordinance passed by the city in 2007.

The ordinance prevents scrap-metal dealers from selling metal within 10 days of receiving it, bans quick cash sales and curbs the sale of coils from air conditioners. The ordinance was praised by a host of property owners and advocates, including MAAR.

Aubrie Kobernus, director of governmental affairs for the real estate trade association, compared Thursday’s court case to someone contesting a speeding ticket.

MAAR and other groups are part of a coalition that came together to support the city ordinance. They worry the judge could give scrap-metal dealers a way out of the law’s requirements.

“Our biggest fear is that (the judge will) issue a continuance, which basically will give the scrap-metal dealers what they’ve been fighting for for the last year and a half,” Kobernus said. “If she issues a continuance, then there’s no enforcement behind the local ordinance.”

Wack those moles

Many scrap-metal companies are complying with the ordinance. Attempts to reach a representative of Metal Management were not successful by press time, and Allen Iskiwitz of Iskiwitz & Co. declined to comment. A call to Dom Marchitto, president of the Tennessee Scrap Recyclers Association (TSRA), was not returned by press time.

But this latest court date joins a litany of past legal wranglings between the two sides.

In one corner, scrap-metal recyclers object to the city ordinance, claiming it hinders their business.

In the other corner, a coalition of property owners, corporations and nonprofit organizations believe the ordinance will curb scrap-metal theft, a problem that has plagued businesses and homes throughout Memphis, further blighting distressed neighborhoods.

So far, the coalition has been successful. Not only was the ordinance passed, but the coalition scored victories at the state and federal levels as recently as two months ago.

The local scrap-metal companies with TSRA last year sought an injunction in federal court against the ordinance. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in February upheld a ruling handed down last June by U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald that the scrap-metal law was constitutional.

Calling scrap-metal theft “epidemic,” Ron Belz of Belz Enterprises said thieves have targeted churches, homes and businesses and are doing “millions of dollars worth of damages to properties.” He said the legislation has been positive, but he compared attempts to buck the laws to the game “Whack-A-Mole,” in which every time one challenge is overcome, a new one pops up.

“Until it’s finally settled, there’s risk in one way or another that a court might find that parts of these laws are not constitutional or proper,” Belz said.

Missing in action

Bernal Smith is the senior vice president of capital expenditures and facilities management for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis. Smith said two Boys and Girls Club facilities had been stripped of metals and air-conditioning units – the John Dustin Buckman club at 1100 Vollintine Ave. and the Southside club at 677 Richmond Ave.

Smith called it a “sickening, disgusting feeling” to reach for the thermostat in the morning and realize that nothing is happening. He said he doesn’t want anyone else to go through that, which is why he is part of the coalition to enforce the scrap-metal ordinance.

“I think it would be a tragedy if it was reversed because the vandalism would become rampant again,” Smith said. “Since the ordinance was passed, there’s not been nearly as many thefts of air conditioning and copper.”

Indeed, scrap-metal thefts have declined 87 percent this year through May 3 compared to the same period a year ago, according to Memphis police. Belz said the economy, chiefly commodity pricing, also has had an effect. But the law has also helped.

Belz said that Thursday’s case isn’t the final word, but the best scenario would be a “swift ruling” from the court that the citations given to metal dealers were legitimate and legal and required compliance. The worst case, he added, would be a delay.

“It would be a judgment against the victims,” Belz said.

Ill-gotten gains

One of the victims is New Chicago Community Development Corp., run by Eddie Hayes in the old Firestone union hall at the corner of Firestone Avenue and Breedlove Street in North Memphis.

During a renovation a couple of years ago, the facility was stripped of its air-conditioning units and copper wiring, causing thousands of dollars in damage and loss of equipment.

Insurance didn’t cover everything the development corporation lost, and Hayes knew he couldn’t just replace the systems in the same manner – unprotected from theft – with the hope that nobody would steal them again.

He needed reinforcements for the rooftop systems, so his already strapped organization had to raise $4,500 to have wrought-iron cages built around the units as a theft deterrent. It took the development corporation a year to raise that money. That delay, coupled with damage to the roof and other parts of the structure, made the building basically inoperable for a long time.

“For a small nonprofit, raising $4,500 is like raising a million,” Hayes said. “People don’t want to give for air-conditioning cages. It was devastating.”

Hayes said the ordinance is necessary given the rash of metal thefts around town. As he pointed out, the tag and hold rule could help mitigate the problem, which is wreaking havoc everywhere.

“Prefabricated copper does not grow in the inner city of Memphis. It’s not like you can walk up to a copper tree and pull off some copper air-conditioning lines or copper water lines,” Hayes said. “From that standpoint, it’s coming from someplace where it had been installed. We can’t tell you exactly where it came from, but logically, if it’s not growing in the wild, it’s probably an ill-gotten gain.”