43
State and county inspect Weathersfield recycling center
By Mary Smith
MINERAL RIDGE
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Trumbull County Board of Health have inspected a proposed recycling center on the west side of Warren Avenue, Weathersfield Township Trustee Gil Blair said.
The Ohio EPA “did not note any violations in its visit to the site,” an EPA spokesman said March 6 in an email to Weathersfield resident John Vogel. The spokesman added that the agency is “awaiting some additional information from the operators” to make sure they have all the proper permits and authorizations.
Two companies, Southside Environmental Group of Robbins Avenue, Niles, and Kurtz Brothers Inc. of Cleveland, along with the township have applied for a $250,000 EPA grant to help start the business, which will recycle construction and demolition debris.
The Kurtz company has to match the $250,000 grant.
Blair said township trustees themselves have had no response from either the EPA or the county board of health about any violations at the site.
He added, however, a resident complained at the trustees’ February meeting that sludge was being stored on the property, and trustees have asked that it be removed.
Blair noted it is drinking-water-treatment sludge. Southside Environmental now uses the site for recycling soil.
The company has agreed to remove the sludge. Blair said the sludge is prohibited under township zoning law, and that the agreement for its removal will be put in writing.
Trustees also have met with the Trumbull County sanitary engineer and the county health department about working to get sewers in the Heaton-Chute area of the the township.
The Heaton-Chute Initiative for about 150 homes off state Route 169 was started in the fall by trustees in an effort to help upgrade the neighborhood.
Blair said the properties are all small, and septic systems create a problem.
A petition is being prepared for residents to sign. If residents agree, then the county can look for grants to help pay for the proposed project in the low-to-moderate income area.
A group of interested residents is working to update records for the Welsh Hill Cemetery, on West Liberty Street, off County Line Road, which was turned over to the township after a church that had managed the cemetery burned down. The residents also are trying to work on fixing gravestones that are leaning or have toppled over.
Trustees authorized township Administrator David Rouan to apply for the 2013 Scrap Tire Grant through the Trumbull/Geauga Solid Waste Management District.
The annual grant is for $2,362 which allows the township to pick up scrap tires at the curb of residents’ homes or take them for drop-off at the township administration building.