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Neighbor says Town Hall is like 'city dump'
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - June 29, 2011)
Neighbor says Town Hall is like 'city dump'
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Munson Township Trustees are exploring ways to be a little more neighborly after hearing complaints from a resident next door to Town Hall.
Trustees began discussing options for addressing what next-door neighbor Patrick McNamara described as "living next door to a city dump."
Mr. McNamara wrote in a June 14 letter that he has been trying for the past three to four years to get officials to address concerns he has with dust, noise and litter.
"The only thing that has changed is that more recycle bins have been added and have been placed closer to my residence," he wrote.
Mr. McNamara listed eight concerns in the letter that he wants officials to address.
Trustee Irene McMullen said she believes Mr. McNamara's concerns are legitimate and officials are now discussing short- and long-term solutions to those issues. "I do think his concerns are valid, and we'll try to address them," she said.
Mr. McNamara listed "dust" created by a steady stream of traffic from people who drop off recycling and truck traffic. "There are 100-plus vehicles per day dropping off recyclables and mulch deliveries and pickup," he wrote. "The Dumpster trucks and mulch delivery trucks are constantly in and out."
He wrote that traffic is not maintaining the 5 mph speed limit along the drive, which exacerbates the situation for his wife, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
He and his wife cannot open windows, he wrote, for fear that everything gets covered in the dust. Washing their cars is a waste of time, he wrote, because they "look like they were in a salt mine" within a few hours. And, they have all but given up on sitting on their back deck, he wrote.
Mrs. McMullen said this is the worst time of year for traffic going in and out of the drive along the north end of the Town Hall property that borders the southern boundary of Mr. McNamara's property.
She said officials are looking now at covering the gravel drive with asphalt grindings, which once they are packed down by traffic should curb some of the dust.
Mr. McNamara wrote that they also endure an "annoying" noise level from early morning to late evening with "banging and slamming noise from people using the facility."
In addition, he said, a lack of parking associated with ball fields there causes people to park on the grass. "I was out in my yard last evening and all I could see next to me were lots of vehicles parked all over the grass," he wrote.
"No matter where we go in our backyard we see the entire mess next door of bins, mulch mountains, vehicles and debris from the dumping ground," Mr. McNamara wrote.
He asked that officials blacktop the drive, install speed bumps and a privacy fence along the drive.
"None of the preceding helps the value of my property or makes for a pleasant place to have my home and enjoy my yard and residence," he wrote.
Mrs. McMullen said officials will be looking a short- and long-term solutions, one of which includes moving some or all of the recycling bins.
She said residents in the township appreciate the recycling bins provided for them, but even with the most conscientious, some of the items may blow away into Mr. McNamara's yard.
Pine trees line the drive between the township and Mr. McNamara's property, she said. Officials considered just pruning the trees, but many of them are diseased, she said. Instead of pruning, she said, the township may take them down and replace them with an 8-foot-high, white vinyl fence. Mrs. McMullen said it would extend approximately 160 feet from the southwest corner of Mr. McNamara's house to the rear of his barn in the backyard.
Mrs. McMullen said she has also spoken with officials with the Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste District about picking up the recycling bins at a more reasonable hour. The organization has agreed to change the times for pickups, she said.
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