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LISBON -- County commissioners approved the vacation of a portion of White Road following a public hearing during their meeting on Wednesday.
The road is in the West Point area of Madison Township and is surrounded by property owned by West Point Renewables LLC, which was represented at the meeting by Joe Coyle.
According to Coyle, the company was looking to vacate the roadway on the map, which he noted does not even follow the actual asphalt.
"We're not intending to jam or landlock anyone up," Coyle said, following the comments by two men who spoke about their concerns regarding the vacation of the road.
One of the men, Robert Bernstort, owns property currently surrounded by the property owned by West Point Renewables. He was concerned that vacating White Road could hamper his access to the property.
Bernstort said he inherited the property from his father a few years ago, but the property has been in the family for at least half a century. From what he can tell, the abandoned portion of White Road has not been used as a road for a very long time if ever, which he concluded because there is a barn, already collapsing, sitting right where the road would have been.
Commissioners explained the vacating procedures to Bernstort and Todd Mays, who also said he was concerned about the issue. Commissioner Tim Weigle noted they cannot landlock anyone.
In the end, after looking closely at maps, Bernstort was satisfied the property is still accessible to the east by a township road, Torma Road, which while not entirely maintained is still a right of way.
West Point Renewables and its parent company, Vogel Holdings, is reportedly planning to operate a facility to offload recyclable materials at the site, which was purchased from Rosebud Mining in November of 2019. The new owners also filed a proposal with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to utilize the site for a municipal solid waste landfill.
According to public record correspondence from the Ohio EPA to Edward Vogel, the vice president of West Point Renewables, as of Feb. 8 the request for a variance regarding the solid waste project was deficient at that time. The letter requested additional information and reports addressing concerns about groundwater, stream flows, seven nearby residential wells and engineering plans for protection from leakage by liner systems.
djohnson@mojonews.com