Friday, July 09, 1999
Warren landfill issue moves to courtroom
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MORROW — The battle over Warren County landfills is moving to the courts as negotiations between a waste disposal company and county commissioners are at an impasse.
Warren County Commissioner Michael Kilburn said Thursday that commissioners tried in several meetings with officials of Browning-Ferris Industries of Ohio Inc. (BFI) to come to an agreement with the company that operated the county's last active landfill.
Commissioners explored the idea of allowing expansion of the existing Bigfoot Run landfill, which reached capacity and closed in May, while sparing the nearby village of Morrow from a waste site at the former Alpine Ski resort.
“Problem is that they would not agree to take Alpine off the table,” said Mr. Kilburn. “If Alpine turns into a landfill, it'll kill the town.”
He said commissioners had participated in pre-trial negotiations with BFI officials in an effort “to negotiate a settlement in the best interests of everyone.”
Morrow residents said they were pleased that commissioners refused any out-of-court settlement that might have smoothed the way for a waste site in the Salem Township village.
“The commissioners weren't fooled by BFI,” said Bill Nicholson, whose home is a short walk from the Alpine site. “The commissioners handled it pretty well.”
But BFI District Vice President Rob Dolder said the possibility for an out-of-court settlement exists until both BFI and commissioners appear in court on Aug. 4, when the waste disposal company's lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in Warren County's Common Pleas Court.
Mr. Dolder said, however, that there are no further meetings scheduled with attorneys for the commissioners.
After BFI's rezoning application for expanding Bigfoot Run was rejected in December by Warren County commissioners, the company filed a lawsuit against the commissioners alleging its application was not treated fairly.
In 1997, Morrow Village Council passed an ordinance rejecting BFI's application for zoning that would have allowed a landfill at the Alpine site. That action by the council was unfair, BFI officials said, and filed a lawsuit that year against Morrow officials.
The village ordinance later was rejected in a partial decision rendered in 1998 by Judge P. Daniel Fedders of Warren County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Fedders will preside over the BFI lawsuit against the commissioners.
This year, Morrow council voted to forward BFI's second rezoning application for the Alpine site to the village planning commission.
Thursday's public meeting was the second in a series to be held by the planning commission as it considers whether to recommend that the Morrow Village Council approve the landfill rezoning.
The council has not set the date for a final vote on the issue.
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Warren landfill issue moves to courtroom
