Landfill gave Pike trustees gifts
BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository
CANTON - Pike Township Trustee Lee Strad testified Friday that he and other trustees accepted gifts from the owner of the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility — free tickets to a Cleveland Indians game, free meals and a free golf outing near Medina.
But Strad said later that the gifts — along with the fact that his daughter worked for Countywide and that she rented a home from Countywide’s owner — played no role in his signing of a settlement in 2004 that allowed Countywide to significantly expand. He said that he did nothing wrong because the “customary” gifts were worth less than $75.
Strad was among several witnesses heard by Stark County Common Pleas Judge Lee Sinclair during a Friday hearing on whether the settlement was fair and reasonable.
The deal
Under the deal, Countywide’s owner, Republic Services of Ohio, would drop its lawsuit against the township and pay nearly all the costs of an Interstate 77 Gracemont Street SW ramp, allowing garbage trucks to bypass residential streets.
In return, Pike trustees agreed to allow Countywide to expand by 170 acres, from its current 88, by invalidating the Pike Township Board of Zoning Appeals’ denial in 2004 of a permit to expand — a denial that had sparked the lawsuit.
In January, Sinclair threw out the original 2004 settlement and decided that the landfill’s neighbor, Fred Charton, who opposes the expansion, should have been named a party in the case. But the trustees approved a slightly different settlement Tuesday, and Sinclair is expected to decide by May whether to approve that deal.
Conflict of interest?
Strad said that in 2003, Countywide General Manager Tim Vandersall drove him and Trustees Bob Anstine and Douglas Baum to Cleveland and treated them to a game. Vandersall then bought Strad a hamburger.
Countywide later paid the greens fees for Strad and Anstine to golf near Medina and bought them dinner and a hot dog, Strad said.
“It was completely innocent,” said Strad. “We work with (Vandersall). It’s like you get to know him a little bit socially.”
Besides raising the gifts issue, Charton’s attorney, Robert Rubin, tried to show that allowing the expansion of Countywide would hurt township residents and his client, who has a farm near the landfill.
Testimony
A Cleveland State University urban planning professor, Alan Weinstein, who was hired by Rubin, testified that around the landfill, he noticed odors, scavenging birds, debris blowing from the landfill and garbage trucks driving too fast.
Charton’s son, Dallas Charton, testified that water from the landfill was flooding parts of his father’s farm, carrying away topsoil. Birds attracted to the landfill were also leaving droppings.
“There are odors coming from the landfill that are so powerful, you just develop vomit,” he said.
Republic’s attorney Sheldon Berns said that while he didn’t know the validity of the complaints, “this landfill is in an industrial area.”
Republic’s attorney Paul Greenberger said the landfill expansion had met state environmental standards, and he urged the judge to accept the agreement because Charton could file his own lawsuit if he had a problem with Countywide.
The trustees testified that the deal was in the township’s best interests because the township could be liable for $50 million if it had lost the lawsuit.
“Is the noise, the smell, the dirt and the dust, the birds ... is that in the best interests of the township?” Rubin asked Anstine.
“Objection!” Berns said.
Rubin tried again.
“If you could make those go away, would that be in the best interests of the township?”
“Yes,” said Anstine.
The Canton Repository
CANTON - Pike Township Trustee Lee Strad testified Friday that he and other trustees accepted gifts from the owner of the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility — free tickets to a Cleveland Indians game, free meals and a free golf outing near Medina.
But Strad said later that the gifts — along with the fact that his daughter worked for Countywide and that she rented a home from Countywide’s owner — played no role in his signing of a settlement in 2004 that allowed Countywide to significantly expand. He said that he did nothing wrong because the “customary” gifts were worth less than $75.
Strad was among several witnesses heard by Stark County Common Pleas Judge Lee Sinclair during a Friday hearing on whether the settlement was fair and reasonable.
The deal
Under the deal, Countywide’s owner, Republic Services of Ohio, would drop its lawsuit against the township and pay nearly all the costs of an Interstate 77 Gracemont Street SW ramp, allowing garbage trucks to bypass residential streets.
In return, Pike trustees agreed to allow Countywide to expand by 170 acres, from its current 88, by invalidating the Pike Township Board of Zoning Appeals’ denial in 2004 of a permit to expand — a denial that had sparked the lawsuit.
In January, Sinclair threw out the original 2004 settlement and decided that the landfill’s neighbor, Fred Charton, who opposes the expansion, should have been named a party in the case. But the trustees approved a slightly different settlement Tuesday, and Sinclair is expected to decide by May whether to approve that deal.
Conflict of interest?
Strad said that in 2003, Countywide General Manager Tim Vandersall drove him and Trustees Bob Anstine and Douglas Baum to Cleveland and treated them to a game. Vandersall then bought Strad a hamburger.
Countywide later paid the greens fees for Strad and Anstine to golf near Medina and bought them dinner and a hot dog, Strad said.
“It was completely innocent,” said Strad. “We work with (Vandersall). It’s like you get to know him a little bit socially.”
Besides raising the gifts issue, Charton’s attorney, Robert Rubin, tried to show that allowing the expansion of Countywide would hurt township residents and his client, who has a farm near the landfill.
Testimony
A Cleveland State University urban planning professor, Alan Weinstein, who was hired by Rubin, testified that around the landfill, he noticed odors, scavenging birds, debris blowing from the landfill and garbage trucks driving too fast.
Charton’s son, Dallas Charton, testified that water from the landfill was flooding parts of his father’s farm, carrying away topsoil. Birds attracted to the landfill were also leaving droppings.
“There are odors coming from the landfill that are so powerful, you just develop vomit,” he said.
Republic’s attorney Sheldon Berns said that while he didn’t know the validity of the complaints, “this landfill is in an industrial area.”
Republic’s attorney Paul Greenberger said the landfill expansion had met state environmental standards, and he urged the judge to accept the agreement because Charton could file his own lawsuit if he had a problem with Countywide.
The trustees testified that the deal was in the township’s best interests because the township could be liable for $50 million if it had lost the lawsuit.
“Is the noise, the smell, the dirt and the dust, the birds ... is that in the best interests of the township?” Rubin asked Anstine.
“Objection!” Berns said.
Rubin tried again.
“If you could make those go away, would that be in the best interests of the township?”
“Yes,” said Anstine.
