COLUMBIANA CO. Business offers aid to Leetonia

Residents can haul brush and yard waste free through June 30.
LEETONIA -- Village Administrator Gary Phillips doesn't anticipate receiving much federal assistance to repair infrastructure damage from recent flooding, so a local company's offer of free service for two years is welcome.
Phillips said he has an agreement with R & amp;R Land Clearing of state Route 14, Unity Township, for the company to accept brush and landscape waste from the village at no charge for two years.
Residents can take brush and yard waste to the facility for free through June 30.
Phillips said the usual charges are $20 per pickup-truck load for municipalities and $10 per pickup-truck load for individuals.
Phillips said he's been told there won't be much federal emergency money available to repair flood-damaged damage roads because there wasn't enough damage to warrant payment.
"If we're looking at $200,000 [flood damage], that's not a lot compared to some, but it's a lot for us," Phillips said. Making the repairs with local money will tax an already lean budget, he added.
Already in a crunch
The village is in a financial crunch because of continuing increased operating costs and a drop in income tax and other revenue, he said.
R & amp;R Land Clearing's offer will help residents and village crews with cleanup efforts from recent flooding, Phillips said.
He said because of budget constraints and the flooding village street crews did not have an organized brush pickup period for residents.
Phillips usually schedules a brush pickup twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
R & amp;R Land Clearing is at 46486 state Route 14 east of Columbiana. For more information, call owners Randy Moore or Rick Haldiman, (330) 457-0652.