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Late-night recyling pickup riles township
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - September 23, 2009)
Late-night recyling pickup riles township
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township officials have had it with late-night pickups of recycled items.
Township Trustees discussed several possible remedies last week, including fencing off the area, to deter the midnight pickups that send noise reverberating through the area.
"I'm tired of it, and I'm going to make a stand," Trustee Charles Strazinsky Jr. said.
He said he was awakened shortly before midnight on a Sunday, when a truck arrived to make a pickup of recycled items at the Town Hall on Mentor Road. Mr. Strazinsky and his family live across the street.
He said it was the second time in two weeks that the pickups have come at a late hour. He said each of those visits brings unwanted noise to the surrounding residential neighborhood with the beeping of trucks and the banging of the recycling containers. "It's 15 to 20 minutes of constant noise," he said.
Despite repeated warnings to truckers making stops there, Mr. Strazinsky said, they stop the late-night pickups for a few weeks and then begin returning at late hours.
He said the latest truck driver he confronted told him he had until 11 p.m. to make the pickups.
Trustee Michael Brown said that comment by the truck drivers conflicts with what the contract with the township calls for. He said the contract requires that pickups be made between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. He said he and Mr. Strazinsky have made calls to the company, but officials acted surprised, saying they didn't know the township's route for pickups was during the day.
Mr. Strazinsky suggested that the township fence off the area, allowing residents to access it through a gate that only allows people to enter.
Or the township may look to penalize the company, he said.
But Mr. Brown said the township may not be able to take any kind of action against the company, because the contract is with the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District, not the township.
Mr. Brown said he also is concerned that erecting a fence at the area may discourage residents from bringing recycled items to the Town Hall.
Mr. Brown said the township may be able to chain the containers to prevent the pickups at certain times. But, Mr. Strazinsky said the township may not be able to do that because it does not own those containers.
Donald Mohney said he was concerned that any fence erected there would eventually be run over by the trucks making the pickups. "Whatever fence, cheap or fancy, they'll be running it over," he said.
Mr. Mohney suggested that the township enact a noise ordinance and then enforce it. Or the township could move the recycling area to another location, possibly at the new township park at Mentor and Auburn roads, he said.
Mr. Strazinsky said moving them to the township park would do little good, because that location is in the middle of residential area, just like the current location.
Township Fiscal Officer Joan Windnagel said the township may be able to address the issue in a letter that notifies the company that a fence may be erected around the recycling area.
Mr. Brown agreed to write the letter, citing numerous complaints and the township's intent to put up a fence.
Clark Road resident Thomas Woods asked what would happen if the pickups are not made, because the fence deterred the drivers. "What if they pass you by?" Mr. Woods asked.
"Then we won't have it," Mr. Strazinsky said. "It's that simple."
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