ELLSWORTH TOWNSHIP Man seeks more time for cleanup

Robert Brown is under court order to remove debris from his property.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An Ellsworth Township man, already jailed once for not cleaning junk off his property fast enough, says he needs more time to finish the job.
Robert Brown said a three-day migraine headache and several days of rainy weather have hampered his efforts to comply with a court-issued cleanup order.
Brown, 55, of 8681 Akron-Canfield Road, has until June 1 to clear debris including unlicensed cars, trucks, boats, aircraft, furniture and other miscellaneous items from his front yard. That's according to an order issued last year by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
If Brown doesn't make the deadline, Judge Krichbaum has vowed to send him back to the county jail.
Brown was sentenced to three days in jail April 30 because he hadn't complied with a court order to clean up at least the front yard of his property by Jan. 1. Judge Krichbaum ordered Brown to resume cleaning debris from his property immediately after his release from jail, and to finish by June 1.
Inspector's report
Township Zoning Inspector Diane Dudek has been inspecting Brown's property and filing weekly progress reports with the judge. Her latest report, filed Monday, said there appears to have been little progress made by Brown and that the cleanup remains incomplete.
Dudek filed a civil lawsuit against Brown in 2002, contending the condition of his property violated township zoning regulations. An out-of-court settlement was reached in December 2003, in which the timetable for cleanup was established.
Brown's lawyer, T. Robert Bricker, filed documents last week in common pleas court asking Judge Krichbaum to extend the deadline 30 days. He said Brown has made some progress, including having 13 cars removed and having one large trash box full of debris taken away.
Other material has been sorted into piles in the yard, waiting to be hauled away, and arrangements have been made for removal of the rest of the vehicles, Bricker wrote.
But he said "severe and unpredictable rainfall" in May has set back Brown's work because he has been unable to get large trucks onto his property to haul away the debris.
Also, Bricker said Brown was not given necessary medication while he was in jail, resulting in Brown's having severe migraine headaches for three days after his release. The medication is needed to treat a bipolar disorder and other conditions, court papers say.
bjackson@vindy.com