Sunday, May 6, 2007

 

No funds for road repair

By Bob Downing
The Akron Beacon Journal

BOLIVAR - Stark County Engineer Michael Rehfus was rebuffed Friday in his efforts to get $147,756 to repair roads used by garbage trucks going to a southern Stark County landfill.

The Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Solid Waste Management District took no action on his request for funds to repair damage to Dueber Avenue Southwest, Sherman Church Road, Gracemont Street and Fohl Road used by trucks heading to the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in Pike Township.

But the district did agree to see if the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will let the district use fees for garbage going into landfills in the three counties to fund the project in three townships south of Canton.

The district's current budget, set by the EPA, does not include money for road improvements, officials said.

The district would prefer to fund the project from its 2007 budget derived from tipping fees, not the $4 million in interest income it has earned. The interest money would be an alternative funding source.

The district also wants to review the long-standing agreement with the Stark County engineer's office on the district funding such road repairs.

The district said it expects to get answers on those issues by the June 1 meeting and might reconsider Rehfus' request.

Rehfus said the roads in Pike, Bethlehem and Canton townships are badly in need of repairs, and he cannot afford the repairs with his county budget.

The district funded repairs to Sherman Church Road in 1998 and to Dueber Avenue and Gracemont Street in 2002, he said.

The district funded road repairs near American Landfill in Stark County's Sandy Township in 2005, he said.

Also, the Ohio EPA reported that foul odors continue at the Countywide landfill.

The agency conducted eight odor inspections in April and found on some days the odors were still offensive, said EPA staffer Kurt Princic. He said he did not see a big change in the odors from the 258-acre landfill.

Landfill owner Republic Waste Services of Ohio is under EPA orders to draft a plan due May 27 to extinguish underground fires and curtail odors.

The orders, announced March 28, require Republic Waste Services to prove that the landfill's liner has not been damaged and its gas-collection wells are intact. The company must pay a $1 million fine.

The landfill has underground fires that were triggered by buried aluminum wastes coming in contact with liquids.