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Trustees question opposition to trash plan
(by Joan Demirjian - December 22, 2010)
Trustees question opposition to trash plan
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Russell Trustees met in executive session Dec. 15 with Geauga County Assistant Prosecutor Sheila Salem to discuss a pending lawsuit over a contract for a single waste hauler for residents.
Trustees approved a contract with Waste Management Inc. in October for the service. The lawsuit was filed shortly afterward by resident David Golden.
Trustees Jim Dickinson and Jim Mueller had approved the contract, while Trustee Kristina Port opposed it.
Mr. Dickinson said trustees are looking to legal counsel for options and for a resolution of the matter involving the lawsuit.
In the regular portion of the trustees meeting Dec. 15, Mr. Mueller, in response to questions about the lawsuit, said, "We live in a most litigious society. I can't prevent someone from suing us.
"It's unfortunate one individual puts himself ahead of the best interest of the majority of the township."
Mr. Mueller said one of the objectives of a single hauler was lower cost for trash hauling, The bids were substantially below what anybody in the township is presently paying on a quarterly basis for trash removal, he said. "Aggregation for group purchasing truly does lower prices."
It is logical that one truck go up each street and collect trash at every single household rather than have three separate trucks collecting a third of the trash, Mr. Mueller said.
And curb-side recycling is something that is shown to be valuable and popular in communities where it is introduced, he said. The curb-side recycling was included in the monthly cost.
A mailing has been sent to residents which they are being asked to return to trustees concerning their preference in the matter.
Resident Martin Winston, who was involved with sending the petition, said 250 of them had been returned as of last week. A total of 2,001, based on the Geauga Board of Elections list of registered voters, were sent, he said. Twenty-two were returned because of invalid addresses, he said.
Township Fiscal Officer Geri Heck is collecting them for the trustees. The township will collect and count the petitions that are mailed to the township administration offices.
Mr. Golden paid for the mailing, as well as the lawsuit brought against Township Trustees.
Mr. Winston wrote and was paid for the petition mailers on Mr. Golden's behalf, as well as newspaper ads for Landmark, promoting its services.
"I very much appreciate that Trustee Kristina Port came down on the right side of the single-hauler trash issue," Mr. Winston said. "It's too bad she didn't have the clout to sway any deciding opinions."
Mr. Mueller said Russell residents need to ask the basic question of "why is somebody spending $25,000 to prevent a single-waste-hauler contract from being enacted in the township?
"You won't convince me it's not being done for economic reasons," he said.
The township has a bid from Waste Management Inc. for $15.97 a month. People are paying more than that now with their haulers, he said.
Mr. Mueller questioned why someone would spend $4,000 to put out a mailer. "I want to know where all the money is coming from. We're fighting a ghost. That makes no sense," he said.
And why would the 800 people now contracting with Waste Management not want to pay less for the same service made possible by the township contract, he said.
"I want to know what the economic interests are," he said. Receipt of 200 or 300 petitions does not represent a majority of the residents, he said.
"Someone is spending tens of thousands of dollars to stop Russell Township from eroding the profit margins in collecting trash," Mr. Mueller said.
"In the book 'All the President's Men,' Deep Throat says to follow the money. It will take us right back to whoever is behind all this," he said.
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