[ back ]
Township park progress clears EPA hurdle
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 09, 2008)
Township park progress clears EPA hurdle
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township Trustees may have jumped the gun in moving forward with plans for excavation work at the township's new recreation park.
Trustees received a notice of violation from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Sept. 23, noting that they began work at the 14-acre property before their plans received approval from the Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District.
Daniel Bogoevski, a district engineer with the EPA's division of surface water, said he noted the violation after being called to the site Sept. 16 by adjacent landowners. "Sometimes, government thinks the rules and regulations don't apply to them," he said.
Trustee Steven Borawski said last week that the violation was not significant and stemmed from a misunderstanding between the township and the conservation district.
He said trustees contracted with Hallmark Excavating Inc., of Painesville, which was prepared to begin work Sept. 15. He said discussions with a representative of the conservation district three days earlier seemed to have resolved the issue, and township officials moved forward. However, he said, the representative went on vacation before relaying the information to his office, which caused confusion and the violation.
But Carmella Shale, a district engineer and administrator for the conservation district, said there was no mix-up. "They were in violation," she said.
Conservation district officials approved the plan two days after work began, she said. That approval came only after the conservation district was preparing the paperwork for a "stop work" order. Ms. Shale said a representative of the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office called on behalf of the township as the paperwork was being prepared. After notifying the assistant prosecutor of the conservation district's intentions, she said, the township provided the information, and the plan was approved.
Mr. Bogoevski and Ms. Shale said no further actions or sanctions would be taken because the goal was to obtain compliance with the rules.
The township does have one other issue to be resolved, Mr. Bogoevski said. An unnamed tributary of the east branch of the Chagrin River flows across the property, and work around it may require a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he said.
Mr. Borawski said the township is planning to prepare the information needed to address that concern and will forward it to the federal agency for consideration. He said he doesn't expect the matter to be of concern to the township and for the issue to be resolved with the stream, which he termed "intermittent."
Trustees voted unanimously to make the first payment of $80,140 to Hallmark last week.
That move was questioned by resident Emily Sonnie. "Why is Hallmark being paid when there's violations?" she asked.
Ms. Sonnie had attended the trustees meeting two weeks earlier with attorney John J. Sheehan Jr. and presented a letter threatening to sue the township if the excavation work proceeded. She said the work would change the character of the neighboring properties.
Trustee Michael Brown said no corrective actions needed to be taken for work that had been done.
Mr. Borawski said the township was making partial payment for work already done. The township approved a $192,985 contract in August for the work. He said the township only needed to recalculate some of the runoff and draw-down figures to satisfy conservation district's requirements.
[ back ]
