Officials hire firm for ReadyAir case

The county has also reached a $3,000 settlement with its former 911 director.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners have hired the Youngstown law firm of Nadler, Nadler & amp; Burdman to represent the county in legal action connected with the ReadyAir bankruptcy.
ReadyAir is a Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport fuel handler.
Jason Earnhart, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said the legal help is needed because the case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh, and because of its complexity. Although Earnhart handles bankruptcy issues for the county, he is not licensed to work in Pennsylvania.
He said Nadler, Nadler & amp; Burdman is considered the top bankruptcy firm in the area, and several creditors affected by ReadyAir's bankruptcy have contacted the law firm to represent them.
ReadyAir filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month after defaulting on a $200,000 loan it received Sept. 2 from Trumbull County's Revolving Loan Fund. The company, which provides services to aircraft at the airport, also has not paid its rent and fees since last year to the Western Reserve Port Authority, which runs the airport.
Settlement OK'd
Also Wednesday, commissioners approved a $3,000 cash settlement to Tim Gladis, the county's former 911 director. Commissioners fired Gladis July 27. He had been 911 director since January 1997.
Gladis appealed his firing through the State Personnel Board of Review, seeking reinstatement and damages. The board denied Earnhart's request for the case to be dismissed, and had set a hearing for next week in Columbus, in which Earnhart said he would have had to call six witnesses.
Earnhart said the purpose of the hearing was to determine jurisdiction. "There was no admission of wrongdoing by the county," he said, adding that the county agreed to settle the case to avoid having to pay travel and hotel expenses for two days.
Earnhart added that the settlement brings a welcome conclusion to the case and ensures that whoever is hired to replace Gladis can feel assured that the job will not go back to the former director.
Commissioners had offered the position to a candidate earlier this year, but that person turned down the offer. The county's consultant has gone back out in search of new applicants.
In other action, commissioners approved using a $144,300 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund a portion of engineering services for the Maplewood Park Sanitary Sewer Project in Hubbard Township. The study will cost $262,364 overall. The area is one the EPA has called an unsewered area of concern.