Officials face obstacle to sewage plant project
A commissioner says the activity 'borders on fraud.'
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
KINSMAN -- Trumbull County and Kinsman officials are lamenting a newly discovered obstacle to the Kinsman Township area getting a sewer treatment plant and sewage system.
Gary E. Newbrough, county sanitary engineer, wrote to commissioners last week to tell them that a $350,000 piece of equipment used in the waste treatment process was removed from a former Kraft foods plant now owned by Smearcase LLC of Andover without the county's knowledge.
Commissioner Paul Heltzel, who has opposed the acquisition of the plant for several months, said he doesn't understand why owners of the plant would lead the county to believe that the plant would be sold as-is then remove the device.
He said he is thinking about asking Prosecutor Dennis Watkins to look into the possibility of investigating whether any Kraft or Smearcase officials are guilty of any wrongdoing.
"It borders on fraud," said Heltzel, an attorney and former assistant prosecutor. He noted that the county has spent a lot of time working on the project.
Heltzel said the missing device will make it difficult for the project to move forward. "As Gary [Newbrough] recommended, we just walk away from the deal unless the developer can return it to the condition it was in."
County's plans
Newbrough said the county discovered the device, which is about the size of a train car, had been removed from the plant Oct. 26.
The county intended to buy the plant for $1, but had not yet taken possession. The county received approval from the U.S. Economic Development Agency to receive a $340,000 grant to be used with the project.
The grant was supposed to enable the county to run a sewer line about 2,000 feet from the former Kraft foods plant on Burnett East Road to state Route 5. It would serve business tenants at the former Kraft plant; a future industrial park across the street owned by Smearcase; and Vinyl Color And Grain. All of the businesses promised to create or retain jobs to get the sewer line.
A later phase was supposed to provide a sewer line to serve Kinsman Center, but county officials cautioned Kinsman residents recently that that part of the project would occur several years after the first phase, and that funding for that phase has not been secured.
"We sure need sewers real bad," Kinsman Trustee Carl Carmichael said. "But our hands are tied at this point," he said, indicating the situation is in the hands of county officials.
Alan Knapp, director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said it is disappointing to potentially lose the EDA grant. His office has done most of the work to get the grant. "If the county doesn't purchase the plant, obviously that's going to mean that we don't get the grant," he said.
runyan@vindy.com