Hearing on Countywide license set for May 9 in Plain Township
BY Kelli Young
The Canton Repository
PLAIN TWP - Everyone should know next month whether Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks wants to shut down the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility for its chronic odor problem.
Franks told health board members Wednesday that he expects to present his recommendation at the group's May meeting.
The county Board of Health set a hearing for 10:30 a.m. May 9 to listen to Frank's recommendation on whether the board should renew the Pike Township landfill's 2007 operating license.
DECISION COULD BE MADE
The hearing will follow the health board's 8 a.m. regular monthly meeting held on the third floor of the Stark County Health Department at 3951 Convenience Circle NW in Plain Township.
Representatives with Republic Services, which owns Countywide, will get a chance to speak to the board during the hearing, but others will be allowed to speak only if they are called as witnesses, Franks said. After the hearing, the board could decide whether to grant the landfill's annual operating license, deny the license or wait until another meeting to make the decision.
Under the health department's licensing procedures, a hearing needs to be held only if the health commissioner finds the complaints against the offender to be valid.
But Franks said that's not the case, "I'm not sure what my recommendation is going to be at this point. I wanted the board to set the date so we can have a hearing either way."
Franks, who began his informal hearings in mid-March to form his recommendation, already met Countywide officials and requested financial records from Club 3000, a citizen activist group that's wanted to curtail Countywide's operations since it opened in 1991.
He still needs to meet with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The state agency initially recommended that the county Board of Health deny Countywide's 2007 operating license, which set the hearing process in motion. A month later, the state changed its recommendation after reaching an agreement with Countywide that includes stricter monitoring, closing of the landfill's original 88 acres and a $1 million fine.
GROUND-WATER MONITORING GRANT
Separately, Environmental Director Kirk Norris said the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District awarded the district $11,000 to monitor ground water at 20 residential sites surrounding Countywide. Norris said the monitoring can begin once all contracts are signed.
The Canton Repository
PLAIN TWP - Everyone should know next month whether Stark County Health Commissioner William Franks wants to shut down the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility for its chronic odor problem.
Franks told health board members Wednesday that he expects to present his recommendation at the group's May meeting.
The county Board of Health set a hearing for 10:30 a.m. May 9 to listen to Frank's recommendation on whether the board should renew the Pike Township landfill's 2007 operating license.
DECISION COULD BE MADE
The hearing will follow the health board's 8 a.m. regular monthly meeting held on the third floor of the Stark County Health Department at 3951 Convenience Circle NW in Plain Township.
Representatives with Republic Services, which owns Countywide, will get a chance to speak to the board during the hearing, but others will be allowed to speak only if they are called as witnesses, Franks said. After the hearing, the board could decide whether to grant the landfill's annual operating license, deny the license or wait until another meeting to make the decision.
Under the health department's licensing procedures, a hearing needs to be held only if the health commissioner finds the complaints against the offender to be valid.
But Franks said that's not the case, "I'm not sure what my recommendation is going to be at this point. I wanted the board to set the date so we can have a hearing either way."
Franks, who began his informal hearings in mid-March to form his recommendation, already met Countywide officials and requested financial records from Club 3000, a citizen activist group that's wanted to curtail Countywide's operations since it opened in 1991.
He still needs to meet with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The state agency initially recommended that the county Board of Health deny Countywide's 2007 operating license, which set the hearing process in motion. A month later, the state changed its recommendation after reaching an agreement with Countywide that includes stricter monitoring, closing of the landfill's original 88 acres and a $1 million fine.
GROUND-WATER MONITORING GRANT
Separately, Environmental Director Kirk Norris said the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District awarded the district $11,000 to monitor ground water at 20 residential sites surrounding Countywide. Norris said the monitoring can begin once all contracts are signed.
