The following items should be of interest to all of you, and some of the information was taken from the PRELIMINARY meeting minutes of last month's GUARD meeting:
1. Surface Transportation Board - At the September 8th City Council meeting, Girard city attorney Mark Standohar reported on the status of the eminent domain trial, City of Girard versus The Youngstown Belt Railway Company. Mark said that the railroad attorneys filed for dismissal of the trial based on the fact that The Tumbull County Common Pleas Court does not have "subject matter jurisdiction" over the railroad. Their attorneys want the matter referred to the SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD (STB), and web address for the STB is http://stb.dot.gov/ . The following description of the STB agency was taken from that site:
"The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with the fundamental missions of resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is decisionally independent, although it is administratively affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation. It was created in the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission."
2. CourtView 2000 Web Site - Jason Denzin found the web site that gives status reports on the eminent domain trial mentioned above. For the latest information on the hearings and the trial date, go to:
http://69.68.42.167:4702/pa.urd/pamw2000.event_lst?32086019
The latest date for the trial is March 25, 2009 with visiting judge Thomas P. Curran. The previous date was November 19, 2008. It appears that the railroad lawyers can keep moving that date out whenever it pleases them. If that is true, then the city of Girard cannot purchase that property for a Girard City Park. If the city has no option to purchase the land, we will not be able to stop Total Waste Logistics (TWL) from putting a landfill on that site.
That is strictly my personal opinion, based on previous conversations with Morrow County, Ohio residents. I believe that ERAC's ruling (Environmental Review Appeals Commission) on the "grandfathering of TWL's landfill application" will go in favor of TWL. That gives us no options other than to live in the city of Girard surrounded by pollution from two C&DD landfills; the one proposed for our north side, and the existing one on our south side (2 miles apart).
If anyone has an idea on where to go from here, please let the rest of us know what that idea is ASAP.
Regards,
Richard Natoli
Secretary,
Girard United Against Ruinous Dumping (G.U.A.R.D.)
www.nomoredumps.org
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment